I  LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


BP161  .Z973  C.2 
ZwEMER^  Samuel  Marinus, 
1867-1952. 

ISL^,  A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH; 


ISLAM:    A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 


^^"^^^fA^^^^^ 


PIONEERS   IX   MOSLEM   LANDS 
India.   Persia,  Arabia,   Turkey,   Syria 


^in^Ny^^ 


ISLAM 

A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH 


STUDIES  ON  THE  MOHAMMEDAN  RELIGION 
AND  THE  NEEDS  AND  OPPORTUNITIES  OF 
THE  MOHAMMEDAN  WORLD  FROM  THE 
STANDPOINT    OF    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS 


BY 

SAMUEL  m/zWEMER,  F.R.G.S, 

SECRETARY,     STUDENT    VOLUNTEER    MOVEMENT 
MISSIONARY    IN    ARABIA 


NEW     YORK 

STUDENT    VOLUNTEER    MOVEMENT 

FOR    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

1907 


Copyright,  1907,  by 

STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 

FOR  FOREIGN   MISSIONS 


TO  MY  WIFE 

(TvyKoivoovrf  piov  hv  rxfBXi^ei  Kai  Iv  r^ 
(iao-LXEioL  Kai  vito/xovy  lrj6ov  Xpiorov 


"There  are  comparative  religions,  but  Christianity  is  not  one 
of  them." — Joseph  Parker. 

"To  talk,  as  some  do,  as  if  the  religion  of  the  prophet  of 
Arabia  were  well  suited  to  the  Semites,  or  to  the  Mogul  and 
Turkish  races,  or,  again,  to  the  Negro,  is  merely  to  show  one- 
self culpably  ignorant  at  once  of  human  nature,  of  Christian 
truth,  and  even  of  Islam  itself.  Such  platitudes  will  never  satisfy 
anyone  who  has  at  heart  the  highest  interests  of  his  fellowmen. 

"Just  as  was  the  case  at  Rome  at  the  close  of  one  of  the  great 
aeons  in  the  world's  history,  so  now  among  ourselves  there  are 
men,  priding  themselves  on  their  enlightenment  and  liberality 
of  sentiment,  who — as  their  prototypes  worshipped  Isis  and  Se- 
rapis,  or,  again,  followed  Epicurus  or  Plato,  according  as  the 
varying  fashion  of  the  day  might  impel  them — are  ready  to  call 
themselves  now  Agnostics,  now  Buddhists,  and  now  Mohamme- 
dans, as  the  fancy  may  strike  them.  Such  men  may,  perhaps, 
bolster  up  Islam  for  a  time,  and  thus,  for  a  time,  retard  its 
inevitable  downfall.  But,  in  spite  of  their  utmost  efforts,  the 
true  nature  of  this  religious  system  will  become  generally  known, 
and  will  then  be  seen  to  be  indefensible.  Mohammed  is,  in  ev- 
ery way,  unfitted  to  be  the  ideal  of  a  single  human  being.  In 
spite,  therefore,  of  its  many  half-truths  borrowed  from  other  sys- 
tems, it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Islam  has  preserved,  in  the 
life  and  character  of  its  founder,  an  enduring  and  ever  active 
principle  of  degradation  and  decay." — W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall. 


PREFACE 

The  churches  of  Christendom  are  at  last  awaking  to 
the  fact  that  one  of  the  great  unsolved  missionary  prob- 
lems of  the  Twentieth  Century  is  the  evangelization  of 
the  Mohammedan  world.  The  Cairo  Conference  reports, 
the  Haystack  Centennial  volume,  the  organization  of  new 
missionary  societies  for  work  among  Moslems,  and  the 
recent  statements  concerning  the  Moslem  peril  in  West 
Africa  and  the  Soudan,  all  carry  this  message  to  the 
churches  and  the  student-world  of  Christendom.  The 
Cairo  Conference  appeal,  voicing  the  opinion  of  many 
leading  missionaries  from  every  Moslem  land,  was  pri- 
marily a  call  for  trained  men  from  the  universities  and 
professional  schools.  And  this  appeal,  in  the  words  of 
Mr.  John  R.  Mott,  ''has  laid  upon  students  as  never  before 
the  responsibility  of  reaching  the  Mohammedan  world." 

But  if  we  are  to  reach  that  world  with  the  gospel  of 
Christ  we  must  first  know  of  it  and  know  it.  There  is 
no  lack  of  literature  on  Mohammed  and  Islam,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  very  extensive  bibliography  of  the  subject 
in  all  the  languages  of  Europe,  not  to  speak  of  the  litera- 
ture written  by  Moslems  themselves.  But  at  the  same 
time  there  is  great  ignorance  even  among  cultured  people 
of  the  real  character  of  Mohammed  and  the  real  doctrine 
and  moral  value  of  Islam,  as  well  as  of  its  widespread 
aggressive  power  as  a  missionary  religion.  To  present 
the  subject  anew,  therefore,  needs  no  apology,  especially 


VI 11  PREFACE 

since  much  of  the  best  Hterature  on  Islam  is  inaccessible 
to  most  readers,  being  in  a  foreign  language. 

This  book  lays  no  claim  to  originality  save  in  the 
form  in  which  the  results  of  the  labors  of  others  in 
this  wide  field  are  presented.  The  bibliographies  given 
for  each  chapter  show  the  sources  of  information.  The 
purpose  of  the  book  is  to  present  Islam  as  a  challenge  to 
the  faith  and  enterprise  of  the  church.  It  has  a  message 
for  those  who  believe  the  Gospel  and  believe  that  the  Gos- 
pel is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth — to  the  Mohammedan  no  less  than  to  the 
heathen. 

Its  argument,  following  the  order  of  the  chapters, 
can  be  expressed  in  a  single  sentence:  Islam,  the  great- 
est of  all  the  non-Christian  religions  is  not  of  divine 
but  of  human  origin  (I  and  II),  altho  so  widely  extended 
(III),  and  it  is  wholly  inadequate,  in  spite  of  much  that 
is  true,  to  meet  man's  needs  intellectually  (IV),  spiri- 
tually (V),  or  morally  (VI),  as  proved  by  its  own  his- 
tory (VII)  ;  therefore  the  present  condition  of  Moslem 
landS;  with  their  unprecedented  opportunities  and  crises 
(VIII),  and  the  work  which  has  already  been  accom- 
plished (IX  and  X),  are  a  challenge  to  evangelize  the 
whole  Mohammedan  world  in  this  generation  (XI  and 
XII). 

Whether  the  facts  presented  and  the  authorities  quoted 
prove  the  truth  of  the  argument  is  left  to  the  candid  judg- 
ment of  the  reader. 

New  York,  October,  1907. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    I 

THE    ORIGIN    AND    SOURCES    OF    ISLAM 

I 

Importance  of  the  Subject.— To  the  statesman  and  the  Chris- 
tian—Why was  Islam  triumphant?— The  condition  of  Arabia  be- 
fore Islam — Civilization. 

Pagan  Arabia.— The  tribes— The  trade  routes— The  political 
situation — Roman  rule  in  Mecca. 

Social  Conditions. — The  position  of  women— chivalry — 
polygamy  and  marriage — Islam  no  improvement. 

Pre-Islamic  literature. — The  poets — Okatz — The  science  of 
writing  and  its  materials. 

Arabian  Polytheism. — Shahristani's  testimony — The  various  re- 
ligions of  Arabia — Sacred  places — Sacrifices — The  gods — Allah — 
— General  decadence  of  old  religions — Reasons  for  it. 

The  Jews  of  Arabia. — Origin — Their  colonies  and  location — 
How  Mohammed  could  borrow  from  them — Their  legends  and 
stories — How  much  Islam  owes  them. 

Christianity  in  Arabia  Before  Islam. — When  did  it  enter? — 
Early  diffusion — Monks — Simon  Stylites — The  Christians  of 
Yemen — Bishoprics — The  martyrs  of  Nejran — Abraha  and  his 
expedition  against  Mecca — Arabian  Christianity — Mohammed  not 
ignorant  of  Christianity — But  he  lacked  sympathy. 

The  Hanifs — Their  name  and  beliefs — Examples — One  of  them 
becomes  a  Christian. 

Islam  a  Composite  Religion. — Mohammed  the  genius  who  col- 
lected the  material  and  put  new  life  into  the  old  faiths Page  i 

CHAPTER   II 
MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET    OF    ISLAM 

Introductory. — Mohammed's  birth,  his  name  and  the  reasons 
for  his  wide  influence — What  a  believing  Moslem  thinks  of  it. 

A  Moslem  Portrait. — Kamal-ud-Din  Ad-Damiri  and  his  book 
— The  pen-portrait  of  a  perfect  man — What  Aisha  and  Ali  said 
in  regard  to  his  life,  character  and  death. 


X  CONTENTS 

The  factors  in  Mohammed's  Life.— Wis  environment — The  four 
►  chief  factors— (i)   Political   factor— The  time  in  which  he  lived 
—  (2)   Religious    factor— The    Hanifs— (3)  The    family    factor- 
Power  of  the  Koreish— (4)   The  genius  of  Mohammed— Khadi- 
jah's  influence. 

The  First  Period  of  His  Life.— Date  of  birth— Sent  out  to  be 
nursed — The  orphan  boy's  plaint — His  first  journey— A  shepherd 
—His  mercantile  expedition  and  marriage — First  revelations — 
Early  converts — Persecution — Flight  of  converts  to  Abyssinia- 
Death  of  Khadijah— Akaba— The  Flight  to  Medina. 

The  Second  Period. — Change  of  circumstances  and  mission — 
Hostilities  against  Koreish— Bedr— Its  cruelty — Ohod— War 
against  the  Jews — Zainab — The  campaign  of  Khaibar — First  pil- 
grimage— Entrance  into  Mecca— Other  expeditions  and  revolts — 
Last  days — Death  of  Mohammed. 

Personal  Appearance. —  Height  —  Complexion  —  Beard  —  Com- 
manding presence — Clarke's   reference. 

His  Character. — A  problem  of  history — Various  opinions — The 
theory  of  two  periods  in  his  life  and  character — Sprenger's  re- 
marks on  his  epileptic  fits — His  comparison  of  Mohammed's  ca- 
reer to  Goethe's  Faust — The  question  of  Mohammed's  moral 
character — The  three  standards— Mohammed,  in  the  light  of  the 
New  Testament — The  prophet  and  the  pagan  code  of  morals— 
Margoliouth's  opinion  of  early  Moslem  morality — Mohammed 
and  his  own  law — His  relation  to  women — The  superabounding 
sensuality  of  Mohammed — The  sources  of  our  information  all 
Moslem,  and  therefore  in  Mohammed's  favor. 

The  Apotheosis  of  Mohammed. — How  the  portrait  of  history 
became  idealized— Mohammed's  titles — His  honor — Place  in 
Heaven — Use  of  his  name — Man  made  in  its  image — He  holds  the 
keys  of  Heaven — Is  a  mediator — The  story  of  the  wicked  Jew. 

The  Coronation  Hymn  of  Islam. — El  Burda — Editions  and 
translations — The  author— Story  of  its  composition— Contents- 
Character — Influence — Source — Object — Was  Mohammed  a  bea- 
con light? — Mohammed  as  an  example,  and  his  influence.  .Page  29 


CHAPTER  III 
THE    SPREAD   OF   ISLAM 

Islam  a  Missionary  Religion. — Max  Miiller's  classification — A 
missionary  faith  from  the  beginning — Rapid  spread — Extent  to- 
day—Its conquest  of  North  Africa — Akba's  challenge. 

Three  Periods  of  Conquest.— The  days  of  the  caliphs — World- 
ly motives  in  the  spread  of  Islam- More  recent  advances  under 
the  Turks,  Moguls  and  in  the  present  century. 

Arabia  and  Syria.— The  apostles  of  the  sword— Revolt  of  the 


CONTENTS  XI 

Arab  tribes  after  Mohammed's  death — Khalid's  campaigns — Ara- 
bia subdued — Syria — Chaldea — The  failure  of  Islam  in  converting 
the  Christians. 

Africa. — Three  periods  of  conquest — Egypt  invaded — Tripoli — 
Morocco — Three  streams  of  immigration — Islam  in  Abyssinia — It 
crosses  the  Sahara — Sokoto— Abdul  Kadir— The  Mahdi — The 
Senusi  dervvishes — Their  power  and  strongholds. 

Europe. — Islam  enters  Spain — Italy — The  Ottoman  Turks  in 
Europe — Physical  reasons  for  limit  of  northern  conquest — Ar- 
nold's account. 

Persia  and  Central  Asia. — Battle  of  Nehavend — Conquest  of 
Persia — Significance  for  Islam — Bokhara  and  Turkestan — Present 
condition — The  testimony  of  a  missionary. 

Cliiua. — An  example  of  propagation  without  the  sword — Early 
commercial  intercourse  with  Arabia — Wahab  bin  Kabsha — Mos- 
lems in  Canton — Arab  settlements — Character  of  Islam  in  China 
— Present  extent  and  growth — Method  of  propaganda — Will 
China  become  Moslem? 

India. — Its  large  Moslem  population — How  Islam  entered — 
Condition  of  India  in  the  eighth  century — The  first  invasion — 
Sindh  conquered — Examples  of  butchery — The  invasion  from  the 
North  in  the  tenth  century — Mahmud,  the  idol-breaker — Moham- 
med Baktiyar — The  Mogul  emperors — Islam  in  Southern  India — 
Result  of  conquest. 

The  Malay  Archipelago. — Sumatra — The  Moluccas — The  Phil- 
ippines as  an  example  of  how  Islam  won  its  way — Meccan  pil- 
grims in  Sumatra — Islam  in  Java — The  Mohammedan  peril — A 
lost  opportunity — Islam  made  its  conquest  unchallenged. 

Islam  Our  Example. — In  zeal  for  the  faith — Their  preaching 
and  fighting — Mohammed's  saying — Contrast  of  Moslem  propo- 
ganda  with  Christian — Present-day  methods — In  Africa — The 
Moslem  sword  and  ours — We  should  do  more  than  they.  .Page  55 


CHAPTER   IV 
THE  FAITH    OF  ISLAM 

Scope  of  the  chapter — The  relation  of  Moslem  faith  to  practice 
— The  six  articles  of  their  creed — Sources  of  this  belief. 

1.  The  Moslem  Idea  of  God. — His  Unity— His  character— The 
opinion  of  Hauri — Of  James  Freeman  Clarke — How  distinguished 
from  Judaic  and  Christian  monotheism. 

2.  The  Doctrine  of  Angels. — Three  species  of  spiritual  beings: 
(a)   Angels — Classification — The     four     archangels — Recording 

angels — Avenging  angels — Guardian  angels. 


XU  CONTENTS 

(b)  Jinn — Their  nature,  power,  abode — Cause  of  superstitions. 

(c)  The  devils — Harut  and  Marut. 

3.  The  Books  of  God. — Number — Classification — Condition. 
The  Koran — Its  size — Chapters — Beauty — Specimen  verses — 
Contents — Its  defects. 

4.  The  Prophets  of  God. — Their  number — The  six  major 
prophets,  or  apostles — The  minor  prophets — Mohammed,  accord- 
ing to  history  and  tradition — Jesus  Christ — His  birth,  miracles, 
ascension — His  return  and  death. 

5.  The  Day  of  Judgment. — Resurrection — Paradise — Hell — 
Signs  of  the  last  day. 

6.  Predestination. — Nature  and  practical  effect  of  this  belief — ■ 
Omar  Khayyam's  quatrain — How  distinguished  from  Christian 
teaching Page  85 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   PRACTICE    OF    ISLAM 

Introductory. — The  roots  and  the  branches  of  Islam — The  five 
pillars  of  religion — All  based  on  tradition,  as  well  as  on  the 
Koran. 

Tradition. — Immense  number  of  traditions — Authenticity — A 
specimen  tradition — How  handed  down — How  regarded — The  five 
duties : 

1.  Confession  of  the  Creed. — Its  brevity — Its  value — Frequency 
of  its  use — How  it  must  be  repeated — Its  effect  on  the  spread  of 
Islam. 

2.  Prayer. — Moslem  prayer  distinguished  from  Christian  prayer 
— Prayer  must  be  in  Arabic — Posture  in  prayer — A  praying-com- 
pass.— Purification  as  a  preliminary  to  prayer — The  use  of  the 
toothbrush — Ablutions — Moral  purity — Tha  proper  times  for 
prayer — The  contents  of  a  prayer — Special  prayers — Vain  repeti- 
tions— The  call  to  prayer. 

3.  The  Month  of  Fasting. — Origin — Importance — Ramazan — 
Duration  of  fast — Its  character — Its  strictness — Who  are  exempt 
— Other  fasts, 

4.  Legal  Alms. — Origin  of  term  used — Rate  of  these  alms — To- 
tal— On  whom  bestowed — The  wonderful  hospitality  of  Moham- 
med and  his  followers. 

5.  The  Pilgrimage. — Its  influence  on  Islam — Number  of  annual 
pilgrims  to  Mecca — Route — Summary  of  the  ceremonies — Circum- 
ambulation  of  the  Kaaba — The  prayer — The  stoning — The  sacri- 
fice— The  veneration  of  the  Black  Stone. 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

The  Kaaba  and  Its  Black  Stone. — Legend  of  its  origin — Shape 
and  dimensions — The  Mosque — Other  objects  of  interest — Early 
stone-worship  in  Arabia — The  Black  Stone  an  aerolite — On  whom 
the  pilgrimage  is  incumbent — Other  places  of  pilgrimage — Condi- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Cities. 

Other  Religious  Practices. —  (a)  Circumcision — (b)  Feasts — 
The  two  chief  feast-days — The  Feast  of  Sacrifice — Its  origin  and 
character — (c)  Jihad,  or  religious  warfare — Taught  by  the  Ko- 
ran— Attempted  apology  for  this  teaching — Marcus  Dod's  reply — 
The  witness  of  history — The  witness  of  the  Moslem  press  on  this 
subject — The  use  of  the  sword  an  open  question — Saying  of  Mo- 
hammed on  its  use — A  Jihad  for  Jesus  Christ Page  99 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  ETHICS   OF   ISLAM 

The  Basis  of  Moslem  Ethics. — Definition — Highest  good,  vir- 
tue, and  the  moral  law  in  Islam. 

Its  Real  Character. — Some  breadth,  but  no  depth — The  moral 
life  consists  in  externals — No  inner  struggle — Prohibitions — This 
form  of  ethics  a  retrogression. 

The  Moslem  Idea  of  Sin. — Definition — Classification — Terms 
used — No  distinction  between  moral  and  ceremonial  law — Exam- 
ples— Allah  not  immutably  just.  .»* 

Their  Lozv  Ideal  of  Character. — Mohammed  as  ideal  of  con- 
duct— Raymund  Lull's  indictment — Mohammed's  idea  of  truthful- 
ness— His  cruelty — Lying  as  a  fine  art. 

Islam  and  the  Decalogue. — Mohammed's  nine  commandments — 
Interpretation  of  the  commandments — Things  allowed  by  Moslem 
ethics. 

Polygamy,  Divorce,  and  Slavery. — These  are  inseparable  from 
Islam — Effect  on  morals — The  privileges  of  a  true  believer — ■ 
Status  of  women — Marriage. 

The  Slave  Trade. — Allowed — Legislated  for — Position  of  a 
slave — Present-day  traffic — Slave  market  of  Mecca — ^Jiddah  port 
of  entry. 

The  Social  Bankruptcy  of  Islam. — ''By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them" — The  Bedouin  Arabs  on  Islam — Result  of  Islam  in 
Turkey — In  the  Soudan — In  Arabia — Professor  Vambery  on  Mo- 
hammedan misrule. 

Moslem  Ethics  a  Plea  for  Missions. — The  testimony  of  Bos- 
worth  Smith — Superiority  of  Christian  ethics — Our  duty  to  carry 
it  to  the  Moslem Page  1 19 


XIV  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VII 
DIVISION,   DISINTEGRATION,   AND   REFORM 

Why  Islam  Became  Divided. — Contact  and  conflict  with  older 
civilizations — The  Aryan  against  the  Semite — The  prophet's  life 
as  a  factor. 

Number  of  5"^r/j.— Classification — Table. 

The  Sunnis. — Their  basis  of  faith — Philosophy — Schools  of 
theology — Difference  of  the  four  schools — Books. 

The  ShiaJis. — Their  hatred  of  the  orthodox  party — Divisions — 
The  Imamate — The  Ivlahdi— Effect  of  this  teaching— Other  dif- 
ferences— How  extremes  meet — Number. 

Other  Sects. — The  Ghalias — The  Jabariyah — Kadariyah — Wild 
speculations  on  the  form  of  God — Disintegration — Pantheistic 
and  other  influences — Especially  in  Persia — Mysticism  in  Islam. 

SiiHism. — Origin  of  the  name — Leading  doctrines — The  perfect 
man — Sufi  poetry — Examples — The  story  of  Imad-ud-Din's  ex- 
perience. 

The  Derivish  Orders. — Their  power — Obedience  to  Leadership 
— Poverty — Journeys — Classification — Orders — Political  aim  and 
power. 

The  Bahis  and  Behais. — A  protest  against  Islam — Real  origin — 
The  "Doors" — Mirza  Ali  Mohammed — His  martyrdom — Division 
of  the  sect — Significance  of  Babism — A  missionary's  opinion  on 
the  Behais — Their  number — Morality. 

The  Wahahis. — Attempt  at  reformation — Abd-ul-Wahib — His 
education — His  aim — His  method — How  is  his  teaching  distin- 
guished from  orthodox  Islam? — His  conflict  ^Jith  Arabs,  Turks, 
and  British — Was  it  a  reformation? — The  verdict  of  Arabia. 

Page  135 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE   MOSLEM   WORLD 

Islam  a  World-wide  Religion. — Present  extent  in  numbers, 
area,  and  languages — The  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  pilgrim- 
age at  Mecca — Number  of  pilgrims  annually. 

Numbers. — Estimates,  rather  than  complete  census — Various  in- 
dependent estimates  of  total  population — Discrepancy. 

Geographical  Distribution. — In  Africa — Alarming  increase — Dr. 
Miller's  testimony — Direction  of  spread  in  Africa — Islam  in  Asia 
and  Europe — Lands  predominantly  Moslem — Islam  in  India — 
Bengal — China — The  Philippines — Russia. 

Distribution  by  Languages. — Arabic — Its  extent  and  influence 


CONTENTS  XV 

m  the  Moslem  world — Other  Moslem  languages — Translations  of 
the  Koran — Of  the  Bible  in  Moslem  tongues — The  literary  lan- 
guages of  Islam. 

Political  Division. — Present  condition  a  proof  of  God's  hand  in 
history — The  caliphate  in  907  A.  D,  and  to-day — Table  of  politi- 
cal division  of  the  Mohammedan  world — Moslems  under  Chris- 
tian rulers. 

Present  Political  Unrest. — Dar-ul-Harb  and  Dar-ul-Islam — The 
Zimmis — Cause  of  unrest — The  Mecca  pamphlet — The  call  to  re- 
bellion in  the  paper,  Ez-Zahir — Egypt  and  India  to  rise  against 
England — Testimony  of  Mon.  G.  Honotaux — Unrest  in  the  Dutch 
East  Indies — Mass-meeting  in  Calcutta — Is  the  danger  real  or  is 
it  a  political  scarecrow? — Policy  of  European  governments  to- 
ward Islam — The  British  in  West  Africa — In  Egypt — The  Dutch 
in  Java. 

Social  Condition  of  Moslem  Lands. — The  law  of  cause  and  ef- 
fect operative — Arabia  an  example  of  what  Islam  does  for  a 
people,  socially  and  morally — Conditions  in  other  lands — Balu- 
chistan— Moslem  morals  in  India — In  Africa — The  slave-market 
at  Mecca. 

Illiteracy. — Its  appalling  extent  and  per  cent. — In  Tripoli, 
Egypt,  Algiers — In  Turkey  and  Arabia — The  system  of  education 
in  Mecca — The  curriculum — Illiteracy  in  Persia  and  Baluchistan 
— Surprising  illiteracy  among  Moslems  in  India — Superstition  and 
bigotry  a  result  of  illiteracy. 

The  Intellectual  Awakening. — The  new  wine  and  the  old  wine- 
skins— The  New  Islam — Sir  Sayad  Ahmad  of  Aligarh — His 
reforms — Present  tendency  in  India — Aligarh  College — Attempted 
reforms  at  Cairo — The  press  and  the  New  Islam — A  crisis  for 
the  old  faith — Mustapha  Pasha  Kamil's  address  in  London — The 
future  of  Islam Page  155 

CHAPTER  IX 

MISSIONS   TO   MOSLEMS 

A  Neglected  Problem. — Long  neglect  and  reasons  for  it — Lull's 
testimony — Modern  neglect  illustrated. 

Early  Attitude  of  the  Church. — Islam  a  foe  and  a  scourge — 
Mutual  hatred — Ignorance  of  Islam — Alanus  de  Insulis. 

John  Damascenus  and  Petrus  Venerahilis. — John  of  Damas- 
cus and  his  book  on  Islam — The  books  of  Petrus,  and  his  method 
—Results. 

Raytnund  Lull. — His  character  and  attainments — Early  life — 
Conversion — Studies — Preaching — Exile — Martyrdom — Message. 

Francis  Xavier. — His  visit  to  Lahore — Discussions — Apology — 
Its  contents. 


XVI  CONTENTS 

Henry  Martyn  and  Missions  in  India. — The  influence  of  Mar- 
tyn — Outline  of  his  Hfe — Arrival  in  India — His  Journey  to  Ara- 
bia and  Persia — His  translation  of  the  Scriptures — How  he  pre- 
sented it — His  death — His  successors — Work  in  India  after  Mar- 
tyn. 

Persia  and  Arabia. — Pfander's  work — Other  missions — Keith 
Falconer  and  Arabia — Present  forces. 

The  Turkish  Empire. — Well  covered  with  missions — The  work 
for  non-Moslems — Original  purpose  of  the  Levant  missions — 
What  has  been  accomplished — Indirect  results — The  Arabic  Bible. 

North  Africa. — Earliest  efforts  in  Egypt — The  U.  P.  mission — 
The  C.  M.  S. — The  North  Africa  mission — Unoccupied  regions 
and  multitudes  unreached — Darkest  Africa, 

Malaysia. — Work  in  Sumatra — Results — Java — Large  number 
of  converts — Methods Page  185 


CHAPTER  X 

METHODS    AND    RESULTS 

Methods  Used  to  Reach  Moslems. — Faith  essential — Its  char- 
acter— The  distribution  of  the  Bible — Medical  missions — Educa- 
tional institutions — Preaching — Its  method,  possibility,  character 
— The  place  of  controversy — Its  use  and  abuse — Table  of  books — 
How  to  deal  with  inquirers. 

Results. — Indirect  and  direct — The  strategic  centres  already  oc- 
cupied— List  of  Moslem  cities  which  have  over  100.000  population 
— Its  significance — Bible  translations — Other  literature — Converts 
— In  India — Egypt — Persia — Turkey — North  Africa — Sumatra's 
harvest — Eighteen  thousand  converts  in  Java — A  word  from  Bok- 
hara  Page  209 


CHAPTER   XI 
THE   PROBLEM   AND   THE   PERH, 

The  Evangelization  of  the  Mohammedan  World. — Mills  and 
the  Haystack  Band — The  difficulties  of  the  problem — Sheikh  Abd- 
uI-Hak's  challenge — How  we  must  meet  it — The  factors  in  the 
problem. 

Occupied  and  Unoccupied  Lands. — Classification  of  the  lands 
that  are  Moslem — India  and  China — The  border-marches  of  Is- 
lam— Egypt  as  a  strategic  centre — The  great  cities — Unoccupied 
fields — The  Central  Soudan — Its  area  and  population — Destitution 
— Rev.  J.  Aitkin's  testimony — Asia  and  the  unoccupied  Moslem 


CONTENTS  XVll 

fields — Twelve  lands  unreached — The  story  of  a  lost  opportunity 
— Kafiristan — The  Philippines — Russia  and  China — Is  it  impos- 
sible ? 

The  Moslem  Peril. — Where  Islam  is  on  the  increase — The  dan- 
ger in  West  Africa — Testimony  of  Pastor  Wiirz — Baluchistan — 
Bengal — Mission  methods  of  Moslems  in  India — Professor  Carl 
Meinhof  on  the  peril  in  Africa — Uganda  an  example. 

Pan-Islamism. — Defined — Its  press — Methods — Character,  ac- 
cording to  Lord  Cromer — Threefold  characteristics — Retrograde 
tendency — Political  importance — What  of  the  future? — Dr.  Geo. 
E.  Post's  words — The  parable  of  the  locusts — Wanted  Mis- 
sions  Page  223 


CHAPTER   XII 
A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH 

Unprecedented  Opportunities. — Is  there  real  danger? — Hopeful- 
ness of  the  situation — Political  division  of  the  Moslem  world — 
Influence  of  Christian  rule — Distances  and  dangers  diminished — 
The  challenge  of  the  press — Literary  work  for  China — Medical 
missions — Educational  opportunities — Especially  in  Persia — The 
disintegration  of  Islam — In  India — Various  sects  and  their  sig- 
nificance. 

The  Cairo  Conference. — Its  origin — Character — Appeal — For 
more  missionaries — Better  preparation — The  call  for  women 
workers  to  meet  a  great  need — What  it  will  cost. 

TJie  Challenge. — The  kind  of  workers  needed — Testimony  of 
the  Bishop  of  Lahore — Of  Dr.  Wherry — The  great  need  is  for 
volunteers — Christ  is  waiting — God  wills  it — "Thy  will  be  done" 
' — Islam  a  challenge  to  faith Page  243 


MAPS 

Showing  Spread  of  Islam Facing  page    56 

Showing  Present  Extent  of  Islam Facing  page  156 

Unoccupied  Mission  Fields  in  Africa Page  159 

Showing  Distribution  of  Moslems  in  India Page  160 

The   Soudan Page  205 

TABLES 

Table  of  Mohammed's  Genealogy Facing  page    34 

Analysis  of  the  Borrowed  Elements  of  Islam. Facing  page  86 
Analysis  of  Islam  as  a  System  Developed  from  Its  Creed, 

Facing  page  102 
Table  of  Some  Arabic  Controversial  Literature, 

Facing  page  214 
General  Statistical  Survey  of  Mohammedan  Lands, 

Facing  page  166 

APPENDICES 

A. — Chronological  Table  of  Important  Events  in  History 

OF  Islam  and  of  Missions  to  Moslems Page  259 

B. — William     Gifford     Palgrave's     Characterization     of 

Allah  Page  263 

C. — Thomas  Patrick  Hughes'  Characterization  of  Mo- 
hammed   Page  265 

D. — List  of  Missionary  Societies  Working  Among  Mos- 
lems    Page  268 

E. — Select    Bibliography    for    Further    Reference    and 

Study  Page  270 

Index    Page  285 

xviii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Pioneers  in  Moslem  Lands Frontispiece 

Pages  from  the  Koran,  in  Early  Cufic  Characters, 

Facing  Page      8 

The  Kaaba 14 

Copies  of  the  Koran  Worn  by  Moslems  while  Traveling.  ,  20 
Northwestern  Part  of  Mecca  and  the  Sacred  Mosque.  ...  38 
Facsimile  Title-page  Moslem  Tract   (Carlyle's  Lecture 

ON  Mohammed) 40 

Tunis — General  View,  and  Mosque  Zebonna 62 

Interior  of  a  Mosque  in  China 70 

Moslem  Pilgrims  from  Borneo  at  Mecca 78 

Court  of  the  University  Mosque  El  Azhar,  Cairo 90 

Fountain  in  a  Mosque,  Algiers 104 

Plan  of  the  Kaaba 112 

Moslem  Pilgrims  at  Mecca  from  Busrah  and  Zanzibar 126 

Moslem  Pilgrims  at  Mecca  from  Yemen  and  Morocco 136 

Moslem  Pilgrims  at  Mecca  from  Bahrein,  Bagdad,  and  K.\- 

bul 140 

Moslem  Pilgrims  at  Mecca  from  India  and  Bokhara 164 

Egyptian  Soldiers  Escorting  the  Mahmal 172 

Moslem  Day  School,  Tunis 176 

Market  Place  of  Bamum,  West  Africa 180 

Facsimile   First   Page   Manuscript,    Pfander's    "Balance 

of  Truth" 198 

A  Mission  House,  Cairo 204 

Bible  Society  Agents  and  Colporteurs  in  Egypt 210 

Facsimile  (reduced)  First  Page  "Orient  and  Occident"..  216 

Students  of  Assiut  Training  College,  Egypt 228 

Hausa  Moslems  at  Prayer,  Kamerun,  West  Africa 234 

Hospital  at  Bahrein 244 

New  Method  of  Reformation  in  Persia 246 

Great  Mosque  at  Delhi 250 


XIX 


"Islam — the  mightiest  system  of  monotheism  the  world  has 
ever  known,  'shadowing  with  wings'  the  three  continents  of  Asia 
and  Africa,  having,  in  its  progress,  stamped  out  of  existence  tens 
of  thousands  of  Christian  churches  and  riveted  upon  200,000,000 
of  men  its  doctrines,  polity,  ceremonial,  and  code  of  laws,  and 
imbedded  itself  in  the  Arabic  language  like  the  nummulite  fos- 
sils in  the  ledges  of  Jebel  Mokattam,  until  it  stands  to-day  like 
a  towering  mountain  range  whose  summits  are  gilded  with  the 
light  of  the  great  truths  of  God's  existence  and  unity,  and  whose 
foothills  run  down  into  the  sloughs  of  polygamy  and  oppression 
and  degradation  of  women." — H.  H.  Jessup. 


xz 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  SOURCES  OF  ISLAM 


"The  epigraphic  evidence  which  Dr.  Glaser  has  presented  to 
us  shows  that  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism  was  not  the  strange 
and  unique  phenomenon  it  has  hitherto  been  thought  to  be.  It 
had  been  prepared  for  centuries  previously.  Arabia  had  for  ages 
been  the  home  of  culture  and  the  art  of  writing,  and  for  about 
two  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Mohammed  his  country- 
men had  been  brought  into  close  contact  with  the  Jewish  faith. 
Future  research  will  doubtless  explain  fully  how  great  was  his 
debt  to  the  Jewish  masters  of  Mecca  and  the  Sabean  kingdom  of 
Southern  Arabia." — Professor  A.  H.  Sayce,  in  the  Independent. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  SOURCES  OF  ISLAM 

Importance  of  the  Subject. — In  order  to  understand  the 
genesis  of  Islam,  the  mightiest. of  the  non-Christian  faiths, 
we  must  know  something  of  the  condition  of  Arabia  be- 
fore the  birth  of  Mohammed.  Then,  perhaps,  we  shall  be 
able  to  discover  the  factors  that  influenced  the  hero- 
prophet,  the  environment  that  stirred  his  genius,  and  the 
allied  forces  which  made  it  possible  for  him  so  powerfully 
to  sway  the  destinies  of  his  own  generation  and  change 
the  current  of  the  empire  of  all  Western  Asia  and  North- 
ern Africa. 

To  the  student  of  history  the  wonderful  rise  and  rapid 
spread  of  Islam  is  an  epoch  in  the  records  of  the  past; 
to  the  diplomat  and  the  statesman  Islam  is  a  present-day 
problem  of  gigantic  proportions  and  perplexing  factors; 
to  Christendom  Islam  is  a  challenge  of  faith  that  has  not 
yet  been  met,  and  a  barrier  stretching  from  Persia  to 
Morocco  that  has  not  yet  been  broken  down.  **To  the 
follower  of  Christ,  and  especially  to  the  student  of  Chris- 
tian history,  Islam  possesses  a  melancholy  interest  pe- 
culiar to  it  among  the  religions  of  the  world.  It  alone 
can  claim  to  have  met  and  vanquished  Christianity.  Is- 
lam arose  in  a  region  accessible  to  Christianity,  for  Mec- 
ca is  only  eight  hundred  miles  from  Jerusalem,  over  a 
road  travelled  by  Mohammed  in  his  youth.    It  arose  at  a 

I 


2  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

time  when  Christianity  should  have  evangeHzed  Arabia, 
for  in  the  six  centuries  by  which  the  gospel  of  Christ 
preceded  the  creed  of  Mohammed,  Christianity  had 
spread  to  the  borders  of  the  Pacific,  Indian  and  Atlantic 
Oceans,  had  revolutionized  the  greatest  empire  known  to 
ancient  history,  and  had  created  a  vast  literature,  and  a 
new  learning.  Why  did  it  lose  in  Asia?  What  were  the 
causes  of  defeat  ?  Why  was  it  possible  for  Mohammed  to 
arise  in  that  age  of  the  world  ?"^ 

When  we  consider,  however,  the  condition  of  pagan- 
ism in  Arabia  before  the  rise  of  Islam,  and  know  some- 
thing of  the  large  Jewish  settlements  and  of  early  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Peninsula,  together  with  the  strategic  and 
unique  importance  of  Mecca  as  a  centre  of  pilgrimage 
and  commerce  long  before  Mohammed,  some  of  these 
questions  begin  to  receive  an  answer. 

Mohammedan  writers  divide  Arabian  history  into  two 
periods — that  before  the  advent  of  their  prophet,  and  that 
after  his  mission.  The  former  they  name,  in  accordance 
with  the  practice  of  Mohammed  himself,  Wakt-el-Jahili- 
ya,  the  "Time  of  Ignorance,"  or,  perhaps  better,  the 
"Time  of  Barbarism" ;  the  latter  is  that  of  Islam,  of  reve- 
lation and  true  religion.  Professor  Goldziher  has  shown 
that  the  original  significance  of  El  Jahiliya  was  not  that 
of  a  time  of  heathen  ignorance  in  the  New  Testament 
sense,-  but  rather  a  time  of  rude  barbaric  ethics  in  dis- 
tinction to  the  civilized  code  of  Islam.^  The  term  was 
first  used  in  an  ethical  sense,  but  later  took  on  a  general 
meaning. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Moslem  writers  chose  to  paint 
the  picture  of  pagan  Arabia  as  dark  as  possible,  in  order 

^William  A.  Shedd,  "Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches,"  4. 

'Acts  17:30.     ^I.  Goldziher,  "Mohammedanische  Studien,"  Vol.  I,  220-228, 


ORIGIN    AND   SOURCES    OF    ISLAM  3 

that  ''the  light  of  God,"  as  the  Prophet  is  called,  might 
appear  more  bright  in  contrast.  Following  these  authori- 
ties Sale  and  others  have  given  a  somewhat  wrong  im- 
pression of  the  state  of  Arabia  in  the  sixth  and  seventh 
centuries.  The,  commonly  accepted  idea  that  Mohammed 
preached  entirely  new  truth  as  a  prophet  of  monotheism, 
and  uplifted  the  Arabs  to  a  higher  plane  of  civilization,  is 
only  half  true.  No  part  of  Arabia  has  ever  reached  as 
high  a  stage  of  material  civilization  under  the  rule  of 
Islam  as  Yemen  enjoyed  under  its  Christian,  Jewish  or 
Pagan  dynasties  of  the  Himyarites,  as  is  proved  by  the 
monuments  of  South  Arabia.  No  less  an  authority  than 
Fresnel  has  shown  that  the  pre-Islamic  Arabs  were  on  a 
higher  moral  plane  than  the  Arabs  after  their  conversion 
to  Islam  ;^  and  Perron  contrasts  the  freedom  and  the  le- 
gal status  of  woman  prior  to  Mohammed,  with  her  servile 
condition  under  Islam.- 

Pagan  Arabia. — During  many  centuries  before  Mo- 
hammed, the  Arabs  throughout  the  Peninsula,  except  in 
Yemen,  were  divided  into  numerous  tribes  and  clans, 
bound  together  by  no  political  tie,  but  only  by  a  tradi- 
tional sentiment  of  unity,  which  they  believed  (or  feigned 
to  believe)  a  unity  of  blood.  Each  group  was  a  unit  and 
was  largely  in  competition  with  all  the  other  clans. 

The  Arabs  took  delight  in  endless  genealogies,  and 
boasted  of  nothing  so  much  as  noble  ancestors.  In  habits 
some  were  pastoral  and  some  nomadic;  others,  like  the 
clans  of  Mecca  and  Taif,  were  traders,  and  had  monopo- 
lies of  the  caravan  traffic.  The  immense  caravan  trade, 
which  brought  all  the  wealth  of  Ormuz  and  Ind  to  Egypt 
and  the  Roman  Empire,  crossed  Arabia  and  left  its  influ- 

^Fresnel,     "Lettres     snr    I'Histoire     des     Arabes     avant     I'Islamisme"     in 
Journal   Asiat.    (1849),    533. 
'Perron,  "Femmes  Arabes  avant  et  depuis  rislamisme"  (Paris,  1858), 


4  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FxMTH 

ence.  A.  Sprenger  adds  this  interesting  fact  at  the  close 
of  his  account  of  the  great  caravan  routes :  "The  history 
of  the  eadiest  commerce  is  the  history  of  incense,  and 
the  land  of  incense  was  Arabia."^  The  three  great  routes 
were  the  following:  from  the  Persian  Gulf  through  the 
heart  of  Arabia  to  the  Jauf  and  Damascus,  with  a  branch 
to  Mecca;  from  the  Tigris  southward  along  Wady  er 
Rumma  to  the  Jewish  settlement  in  Khaibar;  and,  the 
most  important  of  all,  the  road  from  Sanaa  along  the 
west  coast  through  Mecca,  Yathrib,  Medina,  and  Maan 
to  Syria.-  The  importance  of  Mecca  was  first  commercial 
and  then  religious ;  together  with  Taif  it  was  the  halting- 
place  for  the  caravans  from  the  south,  and  the  depot  of 
the  trade  from  the  East. 

The  Arabs  had  enjoyed,  for  several  thousand  years  be- 
fore the  Christian  era,  an  almost  absolute  freedom  from 
foreign  dominion  or  occupation.  Neither  the  Egyptians, 
the  Assyrians,  the  Babylonians,  the  ancient  Persians,  nor 
the  Macedonians,  in  their  march  of  conquest,  ever  sub- 
jugated or  held  any  part  of  Arabia.  But  before  the  com- 
ing of  the  Prophet  the  proud  freemen  of  the  desert  were 
compelled  to  bend  their  necks  repeatedly  to  the  yoke  of 
Roman,  Abyssinian,  and  Persian  rulers.  In  A.  D.  105 
Trajan  sent  his  general,  Cornelius  Palma,  and  subdued 
the  Nabathean  kingdom  of  North  Arabia.  Mesopotamia 
was  conquered,  and  the  eastern  coast  of  the  peninsula 
was  completely  devastated  by  the  Romans  in  A.  D.  116. 
Hira  yielded  to  the  monarchs  of  Persia,  as  Ghassan  did 
to  the  generals  of  Rome.  'Tt  is  remarked,  even  by  a  Mo- 
hammedan writer,"  says  Sir  William  Muir,  "that  the  de- 
cadence of  the  race  of  Ghassan  was  preparing  the  way 

^A.  Sprenger,  "Die  Alte  Geographic  Arabians,"  last  chapter  (Berne,  1875). 
^See  Map,  Hubert  Grimme,  "Mohammed,"  (Munich,   1904). 


ORIGIN    AND    SOURCES    OF    ISLAM  5 

for  the  glories  of  the  Arabian  prophet."  In  other  words, 
Arabia  was  being  invaded  by  foreign  powers,  and  the 
Arabs  were  being  made  ready  for  a  poUtical  leader  to 
break  these  yokes  and  restore  the  old-time  independence. 
Roman  domination  asserted  itself,  even  over  Mecca,  not 
long  before  the  Hegira.  "For  shortly  after  his  accession 
to  the  throne,  A.  D.  6io,  the  Emperor  Heraclius  nomi- 
nated Othman,  then  a  convert  to  Christianity,  as  gov- 
ernor of  Mecca,  recommending  him  to  the  Koreishites 
in  an  authoritative  letter."^  The  Abyssinian  wars  and  in- 
vasions of  Arabia  during  the  century  preceding  Moham- 
med are  better  known.  ''Their  dominion  in  Yemen,"  says 
Ibn  Ishak,  "lasted  seventy-two  years,  and  they  were  fin- 
ally driven  out  by  the  Persians,  at  the  request  of  the 
Arabs."  Arabia  was  thus  in  a  condition  of  general  politi- 
cal unrest  just  at  the  time  when  Mohammed  came  to 
manhood,  and  the  hour  was  ripe  for  a  political  leader, 
able  to  unite  the  Arabs  against  the  non-Arabs,  whether 
Persians,  Abyssinians  or  Greeks.^ 

Social  Conditions. — The  position  of  women  in  the 
"Time  of  Ignorance"  was,  in  some  respects,  inferior ;  but 
in  others  far  superior  to  that  under  Islam.  The  cruel 
custom  of  female  infanticide  prevailed  in  many  parts  of 
heathen  Arabia.  This  was  probably  due,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, to  poverty  or  famine,  and  afterward  became  a  so- 
cial custom,  to  limit  population.  Professor  Wilken  sug- 
gests, as  a  further  reason,  that  wars  had  tended  to  an 
excess  of  females  over  males.  An  Arab  poet  tells  of  a 
niece  who  refused  to  leave  her  husband  to  whom  she  was 
assigned  after  her  capture.     Her  uncle  was  so  enraged 

^S.   W.  Koelle,  "Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,"  5. 

2See  chapter  on  "  'Arab  und  'Agam"  in  "Mohammedanische  Studien," 
Vol.  I,  101-147  (Halle.  1889),  and  A.  P.  Caussin  de  Perceval,  "Essai  sur 
L'Histoire  des  Arabes   avant  I'lslamisme,"   Vol.   I,  214-291. 


6  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

that  he  buried  all  his  daughters  alive,  and  never  allowed 
another  one  to  live.  Even  one  beautiful  damsel,  who  had 
been  saved  alive  by  her  mother,  was  ruthlessly  placed  in 
a  grave  by  the  father,  and  her  cries  stifled  with  earth. 
This  horrible  custom,  however,  was  not  usual.  We  are 
told  of  one  distinguished  pre-Islamic  Arab,  named  Saa- 
Saa,  who  tried  to  put  down  the  practice  of  ''digging  a 
grave  by  the  side  of  the  bed  on  which  daughters  were 
born."^  The  use  of  the  veil  was  almost  unknown  in  Ara- 
bia before  Islam,  nor  did  the  harem  system  prevail  in  the 
days  of  idolatry.  Women  had  rights,  and  were  respected. 
In  two  instances,  beside  that  of  Zenobia,  we  read  of  Ara- 
bian queens  ruling  over  their  tribes ;  and  Freytag,  in  his 
Arabian  proverbs,  gives  a  list  of  female  judges  who  ex- 
ercised their  office  before  Islam.  According  to  Noldeke 
and  Grimme,^  the  Nabathean  and  South  Arabian  coins 
and  inscriptions  prove  that  women  held  an  independent 
and  honorable  position ;  they  built  expensive  family 
graves,  owned  estates,  and  were  independent  traders, 
as,  for  example,  was  Khadijah,  the  wife  of  Moham- 
med. 

There  is  a  genuine  spirit  of  chivalry  in  the  pre-Islamic 
poetry  of  Arabia.  A  woman  was  never  given  away  by 
her  father  in  an  unequal  match  nor  against  her  consent. 
Professor  G.  A.  Wilken  has  conclusively  shown  that 
women  had  the  right,  before  Mohammed's  time,  in  every 
case,  to  choose  their  own  husbands,  and  cites  the  case  of 
Khadijah,  who  offered  her  hand  to  Mohammed.^  Even 
captive  women  were  not  kept  in  slavery,  as  is  evident 
from  the  verses  of  Hatim : 

^Sinajet  et  Tarb  fi  Tekaddamet  el  Arab,  (Beirut  edition). 
'Hubert   Grimme,    "Mohammed,"   Chap.   I. 

^G.  A.   Wilken,  "Het  Matriarchaat  bij   de  ondc  Arabieren"    (1884),   and  a 
{supplement  to  the  same  in  answer  to  his  critics  (1885,  The  Hague), 


ORIGIN    AND   SOURCES   OF    ISLAM  7 

"They  did  not  give  us  Taites,  their  daughters  in  marriage, 
But  we  wooed  them  against  their  will  with  our  swords ; 
And  with  us  captivity  brought  no  abasement. 
They  neither  toiled  making  bread  nor  made  the  pot  boil, 
But  we  mingled  them  with  our  women,  the  noblest. 
And  they  bare  us  fair  sons,  white  of  face." 

Polyandry  and  polygamy  were  both  practised;  the 
right  of  divorce  belonged  to  the  wife  as  well  as  to  the 
husband;  temporary  marriages  were  also  common.  As 
was  natural  among  a  nomad  race,  the  bond  was  quickly 
made  and  easily  dissolved.  But  this  was  not  the  case 
among  the  Jews  and  Christians  of  Yemen  and  Nejran. 
Two  kinds  of  marriages  were  in  vogue.  The  muta'a  was 
a  purely  personal  contract  between  a  man  and  a  woman ; 
no  witnesses  were  necessary,  and  the  woman  did  not 
leave  her  home  or  come  under  the  authority  of  her  hus- 
band ;  even  the  children  belonged  to  the  wife.  This  mar- 
riage, so  frequently  described  in  Arabic  poetry,  was  not 
considered  illicit,  but  was  openly  celebrated  in  verse,  and 
brought  no  disgrace  on  the  woman.  In  the  other  kind  of 
marriage,  called  nikah,  the  woman  became  subject  to  her 
husband  by  capture  or  purchase.  In  the  latter  case  the 
purchase-money  was  paid  to  the  bride's  kin.  In  later 
chapters  of  this  book  we  will  see  that  both  these  forms  of 
marriage  still  obtain  among  the  Shiah  sect  of  Moslems. 

Robertson  Smith  sums  up  the  position  of  women  in 
Arabia  before  Islam,  in  these  words :  ''It  is  very  remark- 
able that,  in  spite  of  Mohammed's  humane  ordinances, 
the  place  of  women  in  the  family,  and  in  society,  has 
steadily  declined  under  his  law.     In  ancient  Arabia  we 
^  find  many  proofs  that  women  moved  more  freely  and  as- 
1  serted  themselves  more  strongly  than  in  the  modern  East. 
'  The  Arabs   themselves   recognized  that  the  position   of 
woman  had  fallen,  and  it  continued  still  to  fall  under  Is- 


8  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

lam,  because  the  effect  of  Mohammed's  legislation  in  fa- 
vor of  women  was  more  than  outweighed  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  marriages  of  dominion  as  the  one  legitimate 
type,  and  by  the  gradual  loosening  of  the  principle  that 
married  women  could  count  on  their  own  kin  to  stand 
by  them  against  their  husbands."^ 

Pre-Islamic  Literature. — The  seven  ancient  Arabian 
poems,  called  Muallakat  or  Muthahabat,  are  proof  of  a 
golden  age  of  literature,  and  doubtless  are  only  fragments 
of  a  much  larger  collection.  To  them  we  owe  much  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  early  Arabian  life  and  faith.  Pal- 
grave  says :  "If  poor  in  architectural,  Arabia  is  super- 
abundantly rich  in  literary  monuments" ;  and  this  is  true, 
even  of  the  "Time  of  Ignorance."  Zuhair,  Zarafa, 
Imru-al  Kais,  Amru-bin-Kulsum,  Al  Harith,  Antar  and 
Labid  furnished  the  model  for  later  Arabian  poetry,  and 
their  poems,  as  we  have  them,  are  remarkable  for  per- 
fection of  form  and  language. 

Wellhausen  mentions  Adi  bin  Zaid,  Abu  Daud,  Al 
'Ascha,  and  other  Christian  Arabian  poets,  of  whose 
poetry  only  fragments  are  left,  and  adds  that  early  Ara- 
bian Christianity  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  pre- 
Islamic  culture  through  the  channel  of  poetry.  The  poets 
were  already  voicing  the  cry  of  Arabia  for  the  unknown 
God;  they  were  the  prophets  of  the  new  era.-  In  addi- 
tion to  poetry,  three  things  were  coveted  by  the  Pagan 
Arabs,  and  were  the  object  of  pride:  eloquence,  horse- 
manship and  liberal  hospitality.  There  were  large  com- 
petitive contests  in  oratory  and  poetry  at  Okatz.     Here 

^Robertson  Smith,  "Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia,"  100-104. 
For  further  information  on  the  position  of  women  in  pre-Islamic  times 
among  all  the  Semitic  races  see  a  valuable  paper,  "Woman  in  the  Ancient 
Hebrew  Cult,"  by  Ismar  J.  Peritz,  Ph.  D.,  in  The  Journal  of  Biblical 
Literature   (1898),    Part   II. 

2J.  Wellhausen,   "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  232,  234   (Berlin,   1897). 


li^  ^  ^  L  ^  ^^-  L 


Surah  59:2-4 


i-kO. 


|l  4)1  ^;,  lfe=3  A>  .411   L  •&=.  L. 
'- — ^-    la  a)  a  ';.IL  ^  .±sa»  ^ 

Surah   48:1 7-22 


Surah   15:39-43 
PAGES  FROM  THE  KOKAX  IX  EARLY  CUFIC  CHARACTERS 


ORIGIN    AND   SOURCES   OF    ISLAM  9 

there  was  also  an  annual  market  which  was  so  large  that 
the  line  of  booths  stretched  for  ten  miles  between  Taif 
and  Nachla;  Wellhausen  pictures  the  scene  as  described 
by  the  poets :  a  crowd  of  traders,  artisans,  blacksmiths, 
horse-doctors,  poets,  athletes,  wine-sellers ;  a  great  gath- 
ering of  the  tribes  from  every  quarter,  and  every  sort  of 
friendly  competitive  contest ;  an  agricultural  fair,  an 
oratorical  contest,  and  a  religious  camp-meeting  com- 
bined.^ An  entire  month  was  given  up  to  these  inter- 
tribal, commercial  and  social  gatherings  here  and  at  Mec- 
ca; an  annual  truce  of  God  among  the  warlike  nomads. 
Mohammed  was  the  first  Arab  that  dared  make  war  dur- 
ing the  sacred  months,  and  break  the  troth  of  Pagan 
Arabia. 

According  to  Moslem  tradition,  the  science  of  writing 
was  not  known  in  Mecca  until  introduced  by  Harb, 
father  of  Abu  Soofian,  the  great  opponent  of  Moham- 
med, about  A.  D.  560.  But  this  is  evidently  an  error,  for 
close  intercourse  existed  long  before  this  between  Mecca 
and  Yemen  through  caravan  trade,  and  in  Yemen  writ- 
ing was  well  known  for  centuries.  In  another  tradition 
Abd  ul  Muttalib  is  said  to  have  written  to  Medina  for 
help  in  his  younger  days,  i.  e.,  about  520  A.  D.  Both 
Jews  and  Christians  also  dwelt  in  the  vicinity  of  Mecca 
for  two  hundred  years  before  the  Hegira,  and  used  some 
form  of  writing.  For  writing-materials  they  had  abund- 
ance of  reeds  and  palm-leaves,  as  well  as  the  flat,  smooth 
shoulder-blades  of  the  camel.  There  are  many  rock  in- 
scriptions in  Northern  Arabia  and  monuments  in  Yemen. 
The  seven  great  poems  are  said  to  have  been  written  in 
gold  on  Egyptian  silk  and  suspended  in  the  Kaaba  at 
Mecca. 

'J.   Wellhausen,   "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  88-91 


TO  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Arabian  Polytheism. — Concerning  the  religion  of  the 
Arabs,  before  Islam,  the  Mohammedan  writer,  Ash-Shah- 
ristani,  says :  "The  Arabs  of  pre-Islamic  times  may,  with 
reference  to  religion,  be  divided  into  various  classes. 
Some  of  them  denied  the  Creator,  the  resurrection  and 
men's  return  to  God,  and  asserted  that  Nature  possesses 
in  itself  the  power  of  bestowing  life,  but  that  time  de- 
stroys. Others  believed  in  a  Creator  and  a  creation  pro- 
duced by  Him  out  of  nothing,  but  yet  denied  the  resur- 
rection. Others  believed  in  a  Creator  and  a  creation,  but 
denied  God's  prophets  and  worshipped  false  gods,  con- 
cerning whom  they  believed  that  in  the  next  world  they 
would  become  mediators  between  themselves  and  God. 
For  these  deities  they  undertook  pilgrimages ;  they 
brought  votive  offerings  to  them,  offered  them  sacrifices, 
and  approached  them  with  rites  and  ceremonies.  Some 
things  they  held  to  be  Divinely  permitted,  others  pro- 
hibited."! 

This  is  an  admirable  account,  altho  his  silence  re- 
garding the  Jews  and  Christians  of  Arabia  is  unac- 
countable. There  is  no  doubt  that  Arabia,  for  two  cen- 
turies before  the  Hegira,  was  a  refuge  for  all  sorts  of 
religious  fugitives,  and  each  band  added  something  to 
the  national  stock  of  religious  ideas. 

There  were  Sabeans,  or  Star-worshippers,  in  the 
Northwest  along  the  Euphrates ;  Zoroastrians  came  to 
East  Arabia;  Jews  settled  at  Khaibar,  Medina,  and 
in  Yemen.  For  all  Pagan  Arabia  Mecca  was 
the  centre  many  centuries  before  Mohammed.  Here 
stood  the  Kaaba,  the  Arabian  Pantheon,  with  its 
three  hundred  and  sixty  idols — one  for  each  day  in  the 
year.     Here  the  tribes  of  Hejaz  met  in  annual  pilgrim- 

^See  Arabic  original  in  W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall,  "The  Original  Sources  of 
the  Qur'an,"  36,  37. 


ORIGIN    AND    SOURCES   OF    ISLAM  II 

age,  to  rub  and  kiss  the  Black  Stone,  to  circumambulate 
the  Beit  Allah  or  Bethel  of  their  faith,  and  to  hang  por- 
tions of  their  garments  on  the  sacred  trees.  At  Nejran 
a  sacred  date-plant  was  the  centre  of  pilgrimage.  Every- 
where in  Arabia  there  were  sacred  stones,  or  stone-heaps, 
where  the  Arab  devotees  congregated,  to  obtain  special 
blessings.  The  belief  in  jinn,  or  genii,  was  well-nigh  uni- 
versal, but  there  was  a  distinction  between  them  and 
gods.  The  gods  had  individuality,  while  the  jinn  had  not; 
the  gods  were  worshipped,  the  jinn  were  only  feared;  the 
god  had  one  form,  the  jinn  appeared  in  many.  All  that 
the  Moslem  world  believes  to-day,  in  regard  to  jinn,  is 
wholly  borrowed  from  Arabian  heathenism.  The  Arabs 
were  always  superstitious,  and  legends  of  all  sorts  clus- 
ter around  every  weird  desert-rock,  gnarled  tree,  or  in- 
termittent fountain  in  Arabia.  The  early  Arabs,  there- 
fore, marked  off  such  sacred  territory  by  pillars,  or 
cairns,  and  considered  many  things,  such  as  shedding  of 
blood,  cutting  of  trees,  killing  game,  etc.,  forbidden  with- 
in the  enclosure.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  Moslem  teach- 
ing about  the  Haramain,  or  sacred  territories,  around 
Mecca  and  Medina. 

Sacrifices  were  common,  but  not  by  fire.  The  blood  of 
the  offering  was  smeared  over  the  rude  stone-altars,  and 
the  flesh  was  eaten  by  the  worshipper.  First-fruits  were 
given  to  the  gods,  and  libations  were  poured  out ;  a  hair- 
ofifering  formed  a  part  of  the  ancient  pilgrimage;  this 
also  is  imitated  to-day.  In  fact  the  whole  ceremony  of 
the  Moslem  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  is  taken  over  from  pre- 
Islamic  practice,  and  is  thoroughly  pagan.^ 


^J.   Wellhausen,   "Reste  Arabischen   Heidentums,"   68-101. 

C.    Snouck   Hurgronje,   "Het   Mekkaansche    Feest."     (Leyden,    1880.) 

W.   St.   Clair  Tisdali.   '"The  Original  Sources  *tf  the  Qur'an,"  43-47. 


12  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

Our  present  knowledge  of  the  Arabian  gods  is  gained 
from  a  work  of  Ibn  al  Kelbi,  written  two  hundred  years 
after  the  Hegira,  entitled  Kitah-el-Asnam,  or  the  Book 
of  Idols.  The  work  itself  is  no  longer  extant,  but  it  is 
largely  quoted  in  Jakut's  ''Geographical  Lexicon."  The 
principal  idols  of  Arabia  are  given  below;  ten  of  them 
are  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Koran.^ 

Above  all  these  tutelary  and  "mediator-gods"  was  the 
supreme  deity,  whom  they  called  Allah — o  deos,  the 
God.  This  name  occurs  very  frequently  in  pre-Islamic 
poetry,  on  the  inscriptions  and  in  proverbs  and  personal 
names.   "Altho  polytheism  had,  even  in  very  early  times, 

^HOBAL,  who  was  in  the  form  of  a  man,  had  the  place  of  honor  in 
the  Kaaba,  He  was  termed  "creator  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  Dozy 
identifies  him  with  Baal  of  Syria,  the  first  part  of  the  name  being  the 
Hebrew  article. 

WADD  (signifying  friendship),  worshipped  by  the  Northern  Arabs  at 
Duma,   but  also  in  the  South. 

SUWAH,  an  idol  in  thje  form  of  a  woman  and  worshipped  by  the 
Hamdan  tribe. 

YAGHUTH,  in  the  shape  of  a  lion. 

YA'OOK,  in  the  form  of  a  horse,  worshipped  in  Yemen.  Bronze  images 
of  this   idol   are  found    in   ancient   tombs. 

NASR,   who   was  the   eagle-god. 

EL  UZZA,  identified  by  some  scholars  with  Venus,  worshipped  at  times 
under  the  form  of  an  acacia  tree.  One  of  the  daughters  of  Allah  according 
to  pagan  ideas. 

ALLAT,  the  chief  idol  of  the  tribe  of  Thakif,  at  Taif,  who  tried  to  com- 
promise with  Mohammed  and  promised  to  accept  Islam  if  he  would  not 
destroy  their  god  for  three  years.  The  name  appears  to  be  the  feminine  of 
Allah,   and   she  was   considered  a   daughter  of   Allah. 

MANAT,  a  huge  stone  worshipped  by  several  tribes  as  a  daughter  of 
Allah. 

DUWAR,  the  virgin's  idol;  young  women  used  to  go  around  it  in  pro- 
cession;   hence   its   name. 

ISAF  and  NAILA,  which  stood  near  Mecca  on  the  hills  of  Safa  and 
Mirwa;  the  visitation  of  these  popular  shrines  is  now  a  part  of  the  Moslem 
pilgrimage  ritual. 

HABHAB,  a  large  stone  on  which  camels  were  slaughtered.  There  are 
also  other  idols  and  shrines  mentioned,  some  of  which  have  since  been 
transformed  into  sacred  places  of  Islam,  each  with  its  appropriate  tradi- 
tion.    Wellhausen,  "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  104. 


ORIGIN    AND    SOURCES   OF   ISLAM  13 

found  an  entrance  into  Arabia,  yet  the  belief  in  the  One 
True  God  had  never  entirely  faded  away  from  the  minds 
of  the  people.  The  most  binding  agreements  between 
different  tribes  were  confirmed  by  an  oath  taken  in  call- 
ing on  the  name  of  God  (Allah)  ;  and  the  expression, 
*An  enemy  of  God,'  was  deemed  the  most  opprobrious 
that  could  be  used."^  Wellhausen,  in  speaking  of  the 
gradual  disintegration  and  dissolution  of  polytheism  in 
Arabia  in  the  century  before  Mohammed,  says :  *Tn  the 
sixth  and  seventh  centuries  of  our  era  Allah  had  out- 
grown the  other  gods.  This  is  clearly  evident  from  the 
Koran  itself.  'When  the  pagan  Arabs  were  in  real  peril 
they  turned  to  Allah,  and  not  to  their  tribal  gods,'  says 
Mohammed.  Also,  for  the  heathen  Arabs,  Allah  was  the 
real  possessor  of  Divinity,  and  Mohammed  can  only  use 
the  polemic  against  them  that  they  allow  idols  to  be  part- 
ners of  Deity. "^ 

Ibn  Hisham  states,  on  the  authority  of  Ibn  Ishak,  that 
the  tribes  of  Kinanah  and  Koreish,  when  performing  the 
ceremonies  around  the  Kaaba,  used  to  say:  "Lahhaika, 
AUahuma,  we  are  present  in  Thy  service,  O  God;  Thou 
hast  no  partner,  except  the  partner  of  Thy  dread.  Thou 
ownest  him  and  whatsoever  he  owneth."  The  meaning 
is  not  clear,  but  the  language  employed  shows  the  supe- 
rior position  of  Allah,  who  had  no  equals.  The  idea  of 
the  unity  of  God  was  not  introduced  among  the  Arabs 
for  the  first  time  by  Mohammed.  Nor  did  Mohammed 
invent  the  word  for  the  Supreme  Deity.  The  idea  was 
common,  and  so  was  the  word.  Mohammed's  own  father, 
who  died  before  his  son's  birth,  was  called  Abd  Allah ; 
and  the  Kaaba  of  Mecca,  long  before  Islam,  was  known 

iW.  St.  Clair  Tisdall,  "The  Original  Sources  of  the  Qur'an,"  31-35. 
*J.   Wellhausen,  "Keste  Arabischen   Heidentums,"  217. 


14  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

as  Beit  Allah,  or  House  of  God.  The  tribal  worship  of 
the  ancient  Arabs  bears  much  resemblance,  therefore,  to 
the  saint  worship  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches,  i.  e., 
it  was  to  their  mind  compatible  with  a  knowledge  and 
acknowledgment  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Yet,  as  Well- 
hausen  points  out :  "In  worship  Allah  often  had  the  last 
place,  those  gods  being  preferred  who  represented  the 
interests  of  a  particular  circle,  and  fulfilled  the  private 
desires  of  their  worshippers.  Neither  the  fear  of  Allah 
nor  their  reverence  for  the  gods  had  much  influence. 
The  chief  practical  consequence  of  the  great  feasts  was 
the  observance  of  a  truce  in  the  holy  months ;  and  this, 
in  time,  had  become  mainly  an  affair  of  pure  practical 
convenience.  In  general  the  disposition  of  the  heathen 
Arabs,  if  it  is  all  truly  reflected  in  their  poetry,  was  pro- 
fane in  an  unusual  degree.  The  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Mecca  practised  piety  essentially  as  a  trade,  just  as  they 
do  now;  their  trade  depended  on  the  feast,  and  its  fair 
on  the  inviolability  of  the  Haram  and  on  the  truce  of  the 
holy  months." 

Not  only  had  the  old  polytheism  lost  its  force,  so  that 
the  aged  Abu  Ubaiha  wept  on  his  deathbed  at  Mecca, 
for  fear  the  worship  of  Uzza  would  be  neglected,  but 
the  better  classes  of  Mecca  and  Medina  had  ceased  to 
believe  anything  at  all.^  The  forms  of  religion  were 
kept  up  rather  for  political  and  commercial  reasons  than 
as  a  matter  of  faith  and  conviction.^  And  the  reason  for 
this  decline  of  paganism  is  not  far  to  seek.  "The  religious 
decay  in  Arabia,  shortly  before  Islam,"  says  Hirschfeld, 
"may  well  be  taken  in  a  negative  sense,  in  the  sense  of 
the  tribes  losing  the  feeling  of  kinship  with  the  tribal 

ij.   Wellhausen,  "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  220. 

2E.  H.  Palmer,  "Translation  of  the  Qur'an,"  Intro.  Vol.  I,  xv. 


-    "  J! 


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O   o   - 


J3 


ORIGIN    AND   SOURCES   OF    ISLAM  1 5 

gods.  We  may  express  this  more  concretely  by  saying 
that  the  gods  had  become  gradually  more  nebulous 
through  the  destructive  influence  exercised  for  about  four 
hundred  years  by  Jezvish  and  Christian  ideas  upon  Ara- 
bian heathenism."''  How  did  these  Jewish  and  Chris- 
tian ideas  influence  the  Arabs  of  Mohammed's  time,  and 
Mohammed  himself,  and  to  what  extent? 

The  Jews  of  Arabia. — The  Jews  came  to  Arabia  from 
the  earliest  times.  Since  the  days  of  Solomon  the  Red 
Sea  was  a  centre  of  busy  traffic,  and  the  Hebrews  had 
probably  located  at  the  trading  ports.  Dozy  finds  epi- 
graphic  and  other  evidence  that  Jews  settled  at  Mecca  as 
early  as  the  time  of  David,  and  that  their  settlement  con- 
tinued until  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era.^  But 
his  monograph  on  the  subject  is  not  altogether  convinc- 
ing. It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  later  conquests  of 
Palestine  by  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Persians,  Greeks 
and  Romans  sent  waves  of  Jewish  immigration  into  Ara- 
bia as  far  as  Yemen.  A  number  of  native  Arab  tribes 
also  embraced  Judaism,  and  at  the  time  of  Mohammed 
we  find  this  people  scattered  over  the  peninsula  in  small 
compact  colonies.  Not  only  were  they  numerous,  but  also 
powerful,  especially  at  Sanaa,  Medina,  Khaibar  and  other 
centres.  In  Mohammed's  time  the  three  large  Jewish 
tribes,  called  Bni  Koraiza,  Bni  Nadhir,  and  Bni  Kainuka, 
all  dwelling  near  Medina,  were  so  powerful  that,  after 
his  arrival  there  in  A.  D.  622,  he  made  an  offensive  and 
defensive  alliance  with  them.  The  fact  that  the  Koran 
refers  repeatedly  to  the  Jews,  and  calls  them,  as  well  as 
the  Christians,  'Teople  of  the  Book,"  shows  that  they 

^Quoted  from  The  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  in  S.  M.  Zwemer, 
"Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"    158. 

2R.  Dozy,  "De  Israelieten  te  Mekka  van  David's  tijd  tot  op  onze  tijd- 
rekening."     (Leyden,    1864;    German  translation,   Leipsic,    1864.) 


l6  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

possessed  and  used  the  Old  Testament,  and  that,  doubt- 
less, many  of  them  could  read  and  write.  For  in  Su- 
rah 2 :  70-73,  we  read,  in  reference  to  the  Jews :  ''But 
there  are  illiterates  among  them,  who  are  not  acquainted 
with  the  Book,  but  with  lies  only,  and  have  but  vague 
fancies.  Woe  to  those  who,  with  their  own  hands,  tran- 
scribe the  Book  corruptly,  and  then  say,"  etc.  Therefore, 
the  others  could  read. 

These  Jewish  colonies,  with  their  teachers  and  their 
Talmud,  had,  for  centuries,  exerted  a  strong  educational 
influence  toward  monotheism.  And  it  is  evident,  not  only 
from  the  Koran,  but  from  the  earliest  Moslem  biogra- 
phies of  Mohammed,  that  he  was  greatly  indebted  to 
Judaism,  both  for  his  doctrines  and  narratives.  How 
early  in  his  life  Mohammed  came  in  touch  with  Jewish 
teaching,  or  teachers,  is  uncertain,  but  that  he  obtained 
his  knowledge  of  Old  Testament  history  from  Jews  well 
versed  in  Talmudic  lore  is  admitted  by  all  students  of 
Islam,  and  was  conclusively  shown  by  Rabbi  Abraham 
Geiger,  in  his  prize  essay  on  the  subject.^  The  fact  that 
the  Jews  at  Mecca  and  Medina  possessed  inspired  books, 
and  were  undoubtedly  descendants  of  Abraham,  whom 
the  Koreish  and  other  tribes  claimed  as  their  ancestor, 
gave  them  great  weight  and  influence.  Native  Arabian 
legends  would  be  made  to  fit  in  with  Jewish  patriarchal 
stories,  and  so,  as  Muir  remarks:  "By  a  summary  ad- 
justment the  story  of  Palestine  became  the  story  of  the 
Hejaz,  the  precincts  of  the  Kaaba  were  hallowed  as  the 
scene  of  Hagar's  distress,  and  the  sacred  well — Zemzem 
— as  the  source  of  her  relief.    The  pilgrims  hastened  to 

^"Was  hat  Mohammed  aus  dem  Judentum  aufgenommen?"  (Wiesbaden, 
1833.)  English  translation  of  the  same  under  the  title,  "Judaism  and  Islam" 
(Madras,  1898).  See  also  the  writings  of  Hirshfeld,  Emmanuel  Deutsch, 
J.  M,  Arnold  and  others  on  this  topic. 


ORIGIN    AND   SOURCES   OF   ISLAM  1/ 

and  fro  between  Safa  and  Marwa,  in  memory  of  her 
hurried  steps  in  search  of  water.  It  was  Abraham  and 
Ishmael  who  built  the  temple,  imbedded  in  it  the  Black 
Stone,  and  established  for  all  Arabia  the  pilgrimage  to 
Arafat.  In  imitation  of  him  it  was  that  stones  were 
flung  by  the  pilgrims,  as  if  at  Satan,  and  sacrifices  of- 
fered at  Mina,  in  remembrance  of  the  vicarious  sacrifice 
of  Abraham.  And  so,  altho  the  indigenous  (Meccan) 
rites  may  have  been  little,  if  at  all,  altered  by  the  adop- 
tion of  Israelitish  legends,  they  came  to  be  received  in  a 
totally  different  light  and  to  be  connected  in  Arab  imagi- 
nation with  something  of  the  sanctity  of  Abraham,  the 
Friend  of  God."^ 

For  a  detailed  account  of  all  the  words,  doctrines,  cere- 
monies and  stories  that  were  borrowed  from  Judaism, 
adopted  by  Mohammed,  and  perpetuated  in  Islam,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Geiger  or  Tisdall ;  the  accompany- 
ing table  gives  them  in  outline.-  A  careful  study  of  the 
subject  will  show  that  most  of  the  warp  and  woof  of 
the  new  religion  was  taken  from  the  old  garment.  Islam 
is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  Judaism  plus  the  apostle- 
ship  of  Mohammed. 

Christianity  in  Arabia  before  Islam. — The  question 
how  early  and  from  what  direction  Christianity  first  en- 
tered Arabia  is  difficult  to  answer.  Whatever  is  known 
on  the  subject  can  be  found  in  Wright's  essay.^  Paul 
spent  three  years  among  the  Arabs,*  and  Christianity  was 
introduced  in  North  Arabia  very  early.  Bishops  of  Bosra, 
in  Northwestern  Arabia,  are  mentioned  as  having  been 

^Sir    William     Muir,     "Life    of    Mahomet,"    third    edition,     introduction, 
xcii-xciii.      See    also    "Reste    Arabischen    Heidentums,"    232. 
^Appendix   B. 

^Thomas  Wright,   "Early  Christianity  in  Arabia."     (London,   1855.) 
*Gal.  1:17. 


l8  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

present  at  the  Nicene  Council  (A.  D.  325)  with  five  other 
Arabian  bishops.  The  Arabian  historians  speak  of  the 
tribe  of  Ghassan  as  attached  to  the  Christian  faith  cen- 
turies before  the  Hegira. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Christianity  was  widely  diffused 
in  other  parts  of  Arabia  at  the  time  of  Mohammed.  Ac- 
cording to  Caussin  de  Perceval,  who  quotes  from  Arabic 
writers,  Christianity  existed  among  the  Bni  Taglib  of 
Mesopotamia,  the  Bni  Abd  al  Kais,  the  Bni  Harith  of 
Nejran,  the  Bni  Ghassan  of  Syria,  and  other  tribes  be- 
tween Medina  and  Kufa.^  The  picture  of  the  Christian 
monk  in  his  desert-cell,  with  his  night-lamp  and  books, 
keeping  vigil,  is  common  in  pre-Islamic  poetry;  and  we 
have  already  seen  that  there  were  also  Christian  poets 
in  the  'Time  of  Ignorance."  As  the  Arabs  became  more 
intimately  connected  with  the  Romans,  the  progress  of 
Christianity  increased.  The  name  of  Mavia,  an  Arabian 
queen,  is  mentioned  by  ecclesiastical  writers  as  a  convert 
to  the  faith,  and  it  is  stated  that  she  invited  a  Christian 
bishop,  named  Moses,  to  live  among  her  people.  An  un- 
fortunate circumstance  for  the  progress  of  Christianity 
in  North  Arabia,  however,  was  its  location  between  the 
rival  powers  of  Rome  and  Persia.  It  was  a  sort  of  buffer- 
state,  and  suffered  in  consequence.  The  Persian  mon- 
archs  persecuted  the  Christian  Arabs,  and  one  of  their 
allies — a  pagan  Arab,  called  Naaman — forbade  all  inter- 
course with  Christians,  on  the  part  of  his  subjects.  This 
edict,  we  are  told,  was  occasioned  by  the  success  of  the 
preaching  of  Simon  Stylites,  the  pillar  saint,  celebrated 
in  Tennyson's  poem.-     The  progress  or  even  the  toler- 

*A.  p.  Caussin  de  Perceval,  "Essai  sur  I'Histoire  des  Arabes  avant  I'ls- 
lamisme."     (Paris,   1847  and   1902.)    Three  vols. 

^Thomas  Wright,   "Early   Christianity  in  Arabia,"  "j-j. 

Noldeke,  "Sketches  from  Eastern  History"  (London,  1892).  (Chapter  on 
Simon  Stylites. 


ORIGIN    AND    SOURCES    OF    ISLAM  I9 

ance  of  Christianity  in  the  kingdom  of  Hirah  seems  to 
have  been  always  dependent  on  the  favor  of  the  Khosroes 
of  Persia.  Some  became  Christians  as  early  as  380  A.  D. 
And  one  of  the  early  converts,  Noman  Abu  Kamus, 
proved  the  sincerity  of  his  faith  by  melting  down  a 
golden  statue  of  the  Arabian  Venus  worshipped  by  his 
tribe,  and  distributing  the  proceeds  to  the  poor.  Wright 
states  that  many  of  the  tribe  followed  his  example,  broke 
their  idols  and  were  baptized.  So  early  was  idolatry 
doomed  in  North  Arabia — long  before  the  appearance  of 
Mohammed. 

It  was  in  Southwestern  Arabia,  however,  that  the 
Christian  faith  exerted  its  greatest  power  and  made  larg- 
est conquest.  We  learn,  from  the  monuments  and  in- 
scriptions of  Yemen,  how,  before  the  Christian  preacher 
came,  monotheism  had  already  displaced  polytheism  in 
the  cult  of  the  Sabeans.^  The  names  used  for  the  Su- 
preme Deity  were,  many  of  them,  identical  with  those 
used  later  in  the  Koran.  Add  to  this  the  large  Jewish 
population,  and  it  becomes  evident  that  the  soil  was  ready 
for  the  Christian  faith  to  take  root ;  altho  it  is  also  true 
that  the  Jews  were  often  an  obstacle  to  the  early  spread 
of  Christianity,  because  of  their  bitter  hostility.  The 
legend  that  St.  Bartholomew  preached  in  Yemen,  on  his 
way  to  India,  need  not  be  considered ;  nor  the  more  prob- 
able one  of  Frumentius  and  his  success  as  first  bishop  to 
Himyar.  But  history  relates  that,  in  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantius,  Theophilus,  the  deacon  of  Nicomedia,  a  zealous 
Arian,  being  sent  by  the  Emperor  to  attend  a  magnificent 
embassy  to  the  court  of  Himyar,  prevailed  on  the  Ara- 
bian king  to  accept  Christianity.  He  built  three  churches 
at  Zaphar,  Aden  and  Sanaa,  as  well  as  at  Hormuz,  in  the 

'Hubert  Grimme,  "Mohammed,"   19-31,  ff. 


20  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

Persian  Gulf.  No  less  than  four  bishoprics  were  estab- 
lished. Ibn  Khalikan,  the  Moslem  historian,  enumerates 
as  Christian  tribes  the  Bahrah,  Tanoukh,  and  Taglab, 
while  in  Nejran,  north  of  Yemen,  and  even  in  Medina 
there  were  Christians.  In  the  year  560  A.  D.  there  was 
a  severe  persecution  of  the  Christians  in  Nejran,  insti- 
gated by  the  Jews.  "Large  pits  were  dug,  filled  with 
fuel,  and  many  thousands  of  monks  and  virgins  were 
committed  to  the  flames."^  Yet,  so  firm  a  hold  had  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  Arabs  of  Nejran  that 
neither  the  fires  of  persecution  nor  the  power  of  trium- 
phant Islam  in  the  later  centuries  could  root  it  out  speed- 
ily. Abbe  Hue  speaks  of  Christians  in  Nejran  as  late  as 
the  tenth  century.^ 

In  the  year  567  A.  D.,  Abraha,  the  Christian  king  of 
Yemen,  built  a  new  cathedral  at  Sanaa,  with  the  inten- 
tion of  making  it  the  rival  of  Mecca  for  the  Arab  pil- 
grimage. The  church  was  defiled  by  pagan  Arabs  from 
the  North,  and  then  followed  the  famous  expedition  of 
Abraha  against  Mecca,  and  his  defeat  by  the  Koreish — 
forever  after  celebrated  in  the  Koran  chapter  of  "The 
Elephant."^  Two  months  after  this  defeat  was  born  the 
prophet  whose  character  and  career  sealed  the  fate  of 
Christianity  in  Arabia  for  many  centuries. 

From  this  short  sketch  of  Christianity  in  early  Arabia 
it  is  evident  that  Mohammed,  like  any  other  intelligent 
Arab  of  his  day,  could  not  have  been  wholly  ignorant  of 
the  Christian  faith.  The  picture  of  the  Christian  church 
of  this  period  (323-692  A.  D.)  was  dark  indeed;  yet  it 

^S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  307-308,  following  the  ac- 
count given   by   Wright. 

2Abbe  Hue,  "Christianity  in  China,  Tartary  and  Tibet,"  Vol.  I,  88. 
(New   York,   edition   1857.) 

^S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  308-313.  See  Moslem 
Commentators  in  loco. 


COriES    OF    THE   KOKAX    WORN    BY    MOSLEMS    \VP{EX 
TRAVELIXC.  OR  OX  PILGRIMAGE 


ORIGIN    AND   SOURCES   OF    ISLAM  21 

was  not  without  true  believers.^  Arabia  was  full  of 
heresies,  and  yet  we  have  epigraphic  evidence  that  the 
real  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  obtained  in  Arabia,  instead 
of  that  which  Mohammed  asserts  the  Christians  hold.  In 
1888  Edward  Glaser,  the  explorer,  brought  from  Mareb, 
the  Sabean  capital,  a  copy  of  an  inscription,  telling  of 
the  suppression  of  a  revolt  against  the  Ethiopic  rule  then 
established  in  Yemen,  This  inscription,  which  dates  from 
542  A.  D.,  opens  with  the  words:  ''In  the  Power  of  the 
All  Merciful,  and  His  Messiah  and  the  Holy  Ghost."^ 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  condition  or  the  teaching 
of  Christianity  in  Arabia,  Mohammed  came  in  contact 
with  it  all  through  his  life.  One  of  the  chief  stories  he 
heard  in  his  boyhood  was  of  the  Christian  invasion  from 
the  South,  and  the  defeat  of  Abraha;  later  he  went  to 
Syria,  met  monks  and  passed  through  the  territory  of 
the  Christian  tribes  of  Northern  Arabia ;  after  he  became 
a  prophet  he  had  as  concubine  a  Christian  Coptic  wom- 
an, Miriam,  the  mother  of  his  darling  son,  Ibrahim.  For 
good  or  for  ill,  Mohammed  could  not  remain  wholly  ig- 
norant of  Christianity,  and  therefore  it  is  not  surprising 
to  find  the  evidence  of  this  in  Islam.^  The  Christian  fac- 
tor cannot  be  omitted  in  our  study  of  the  origin  of  Islam. 
Christian  teaching,  though  often  in  corrupt  form,  was 
one  of  the  sources  of  the  new  religion. 

^Kurtz  writes:  "More  and  more  the  Church  became  assimilated  and 
conformed  to  the  world,  church  discipline  grew  lax,  and  moral  decay  made 
rapid  progress.  Passionate  contentions,  quarrels  and  schisms  among 
bishops  and  clergy  filled  public  life  also  with  party  strife,  animosity  and 
bitterness.  .  .  .  Hypocrisy  and  bigotry  took  the  place  of  piety  among 
those  who  strove  after  something  higher,  while  the  masses  consoled  them- 
selves with  the  reflection  that  every  man  could  not  be  a  monk." — "Church 
History,"  Vol.  I,  386. 

^Hilprecht,  "Recent  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands,"  149-  (Article  by 
Professor  Fritz  Hommel  on  "Arabia.");  Zwemer,  "The  Moslem  Doctrine  of 
God,"  27,  90. 

3See  table  of  the   Borrowed   Elements,  opposite  page   86. 


2,2  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

But  Koelle  goes  much  further  than  this,  and  shows 
negatively  how,  in  Mohammed's  own  case,  "not  want  of 
opportunity,  but  want  of  sympathy  and  compatibiHty 
kept  him  aloof  from  the  religion  of  Christ.  His  first  wife 
introduced  him  to  her  Christian  cousin;  one  of  his  later 
wives  had  embraced  Christianity  in  Abyssinia,  and  the 
most  favored  of  his  concubines  was  a  Christian  damsel 
from  the  Copts  of  Egypt.  He  was  acquainted  with  as- 
cetic monks,  and  had  dealings  with  learned  bishops  of  the 
orthodox  church.  In  those  days  the  reading  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  the  public  services  was  already  au- 
thoritatively enjoined  and  universally  practised;  if  he 
had  wished  thoroughly  to  acquaint  himself  with  them, 
he  could  easily  have  done  so.  But,  having  no  adequate 
conception  of  the  nature  of  sin  and  man's  fallen  state, 
he  also  lacked  the  faculty  of  truly  appreciating  the  rem- 
edy for  it  which  was  offered  in  the  Gospel."^  All  these 
considerations  have  weight  in  determining  the  influence 
of  Christianity  on  the  origin  of  Islam.- 

The  Hanifs. — Besides  the  Jews  and  Christians,  there 
were  the  Hanifs.  The  term  was  originally  one  of  re- 
proach (meaning  to  limp  or  walk  unevenly,  to  pretend), 
and  was  applied  to  those  who  abandoned  the  worship  of 
the  popular  deities.^  With  the  decline  of  the  old  pagan- 
ism, a  number  of  men  arose  in  Medina,  Taif  and  Mecca 

^S.  W.   Koelle,   "Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,"  471, 

A  Moslem  convert  of  El  Azhar  and  a  teacher  of  theology  in  Cairo  holds 
that  in  his  earliest  years  of  manhood  Mohammed  was  a  nominal  Christian 
and  offers  to  prove  it  on  Moslem  authorities.  See  Cairo  Conference  Reports, 
Vol.    II,   24. 

*For  a  further  consideration  of  the  Moslem  legends,  stories  and  doctrines 
that  were  borrowed  from  Christianity,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Tisdall, 
"The  Original   Sources  of  the  Qur'an,"  Chap.    IV. 

^W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall,  "The  Original  Sources  of  the  Quran,"  272;  Pautz, 
"Mohammed's  Lehre  von  der  OfTenbarung,"  15;  Hughes'  "Dictionary  of 
Islam"  gives  a  different  derivation. 


ORIGIN   AND   SOURCES   OF   ISLAM  2^ 

who  became  convinced  of  the  folly  of  the  old  religion, 
and  were  seekers  after  God,  altho  neither  Jewish  nor 
Christian  proselytes.  That  they  became  numerous  and 
honorable  is  evident  from  the  Koran  use  of  the  term, 
and  from  the  fact  that  Abraham  the  Patriarch  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first  Hanif.  Moslem  history  mentions 
twelve  of  Mohammed's  companions  who  belonged  to  the 
Hanifs.  And  from  Ibn  Ishak,  the  earliest  biographer  of 
Mohammed,  we  learn  what  Zeid,  Waraka  and  others  of 
these  reformers  believed  and  taught.  'They  said,  one  to 
another:  'By  God  ye  know  that  your  nation  is  based 
upon  nothing :  truly,  they  have  erred  from  the  religion  of 
their  father,  Abraham.  What  is  a  stone,  that  we  should 
circle  round  it?  It  hears  not,  nor  sees,  nor  injures,  nor 
benefits.  O  people,  seek  for  yourselves;  for,  verily  by 
God,  ye  are  based  upon  nothing.'  Accordingly,  they 
went  into  different  lands,  that  they  might  seek  Haniiism, 
the  religion  of  Abraham.  Waraka  bin  Naufal,  therefore, 
became  absorbed  in  Christianity,  and  he  inquired  after 
the  Books  among  those  who  professed  it  until  he  ac- 
quired some  knowledge  from  the  People  of  the  Book. 
But  Ubaidullah  bin  Jahsh  remained  in  the  state  of  un- 
certainty in  which  he  was  until  he  became  a  Moslem.  He 
migrated  with  the  Moslems  to  Abyssinia  .  .  .  and 
when  he  arrived  there  became  a  Christian,  and  aban- 
doned Islam,  so  that  he  perished  there  a  Christian."^ 
This  testimony  is  remarkable.  So  early  was  the  first 
convert  from  Islam  to  Christianity.  And  Ibn  Ishak  tells 
us  he  was  not  only  a  convert,  but  a  witness.  "When  he 
became  a  Christian  he  used  to  dispute  with  the  Compan- 
ions of  the  Apostle,  who  were  then  in  Abyssinia,  and  say : 
*We  see  clearly,  and  you  are  yet  blinking.'  "  Would  that 

*"Sirat-ur-Rasul,"  Vol.  I,  76,  77-     Quoted  by  W.  St.   Clair  Tisdall. 


^4  ISLAM:      A   CHALLENGE  TO   FAITH 

Mohammed  and  his  companions  had  accepted  the  testi- 
mony of  Ubaidullah,  and  had  come  to  the  true  Ught  of 
the  gospel ! 

The  Hanifs  expressed  their  piety  in  the  words,  *'We 
have  surrendered  to  God"  (Islam)  ;  they  prohibited  the 
slaying  of  female  infants ;  they  acknowledged  the  unity 
of  God;  they  rejected  all  idolatry;  they  promised  a  fu- 
ture garden  of  delight  to  the  believer,  and  hell  for  the 
wicked ;  they  used  the  words  Merciful  and  Forgiving  for 
Deity.  Wellhausen  states  that  these  Hanifs  were  not 
found  in  Mecca  and  Medina  alone,  but  that  they  were 
everywhere  a  symptom  and  an  indication  of  the  final  dis- 
solution of  paganism  and  a  proof  that  the  soil  was  ripe 
for  Islam.^ 

Islam  a  Composite  Religion. — From  the  condition  of 
Arabia  at  the  time  of  Mohammed,  and  the  whole  relig- 
ious environment  of  his  day,  it  is  natural  that  if  there 
was  to  be  a  new  religion  for  Arabia  it  must  take  account 
of  the  existing  faiths.  It  is  not  at  all  surprising,  there- 
fore, that  the  result  of  a  century  of  critical  study  by  Eu- 
ropean and  American  scholars  of  every  school  of  thought 
has  established  the  fact  that  Islam  is  a  composite  relig- 
ion. It  is  not  an  invention,  but  a  concoction;  there  is 
nothing  novel  about  it,  except  the  genius  of  Mohammed 
in  mixing  old  ingredients  into  a  new  panacea  for  human 
ills,  and  forcing  it  down  by  means  of  the  sword.  These 
heterogeneous  elements  of  Islam  were  gathered  in  Arabia 
at  a  time  when  many  religions  had  penetrated  the  Penin- 
sula, and  the  Kaaba  was  a  Pantheon.  Unless  one  has  a 
knowledge  of  these  elements  of  the  "Time  of  Ignorance," 
Islam  is  a  problem.  Knowing,  however,  these  heathen, 
Christian,  and  Jewish  factors,  Islam  is  seen  to  be  a  per- 

ij.  Wellhausen,  "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"  234. 


ORIGIN   AND   SOURCES   OF   ISLAM  2^ 

fectly  natural  and  comprehensible  development.  Its  hea- 
then, Christian  and  Jewish  elements  remain,  to  this  day, 
perfectly  recognizable,  in  spite  of  thirteen  centuries  of 
explanation  by  the  Moslem  authorities.  And,  logically, 
it  was  only  a  step  from  Hanifism  to  Islam,  if  one  did  not 
wish  to  embrace  the  old  historic  faiths  of  Moses  or  of 
Christ.  The  "Time  of  Ignorance"  was  a  time  of  spiritual 
inquiry  and  seeking  after  God.  But  it  was  also  a  time 
of  social  and  political  chaos  in  Western  Arabia.  Every- 
thing was  ready  for  a  man  of  genius  who  could  take  in 
the  whole  situation — social,  political,  and  religious — and 
form  a  cosmos.   That  man  was  Mohammed. 


MOHAMMED,  THE  PROPHET  OF  ISLAM 


"It  has  been  truly  said  that  Christianity  Is  not  a  religious  sys- 
tem, but  a  life;  that  it  is  Christ.  With  almost  equal  truth  it 
may  be  affirmed  that  Islam  is  Mohammed.  Certainly  his  spirit 
is  infused  into  the  religion  which  he  founded,  and  still  animates 
to  an  almost  incredible  extent  the  hearts  of  its  professors  in 
every  Moham.medan  land." — IV.  St.  Clair  Tisdall. 

"The  character  of  Mohammed  is  a  historic  problem,  and  many 
have  been  the  conjectures  as  to  his  motives  and  designs.  Was 
he  an  impostor,  a  fanatic,  or  an  honest  man — a  very  apostle  of 
God?"— T.  P.  Hughes. 

"By  a  fortune  absolutely  unique  in  history  Mohammed  is  a 
threefold  founder — of  a  nation,  of  an  empire  and  of  a  religion. 
.  .  .  Scarcely  able  to  read  or  write,  he  was  yet  the  author  of 
a  book  reverenced  to  this  day  by  the  sixth  [seventh]  of  the 
whole  human  race  as  a  miracle  of  purity  of  style,  of  wisdom  and 
of  truth."— i^.  Bosworth  Smith, 


II 

MOHAMMED,  THE  PROPHET 

Introductory.— About  the  year  570  A.  D.,  Abdullah, 
the  son  of  Abd  ul  Muttalib,  a  Mecca  merchant,  went  on 
a  trading  trip  from  iVlecca  to  Medina,  and  died  there.  A 
few  months  after  his  death  his  wife,  Amina,  gave  birth 
to  a  boy,  who  was  named  Mohammed.^  One  hundred 
years  later  the  name  of  this  Arab,  joined  to  that  of  the 
Almighty,  was  called  out  from  ten  thousand  minarets 
five  times  daily  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Atlantic, 
and  his  new  religion  was  sweeping  everything  before  it 
in  three  continents.  What  is  the  explanation  of  this  mar- 
vel of  history  ?  JNIany  theories  have  been  given,  and  the 
true  explanation  of  the  spread  of  Islam  is  probably  the 
sum  of  all  these  theories:  The  weaknesses  of  the  Orien- 
tal churches ;  their  corrupt  state ;  the  condition  of  the 
Roman  and  Persian  empires ;  the  easy-going  moral  char- 
acter of  the  new  religion ;  the  power  of  the  sword  and  of 
fanaticism ;  the  great  truths  of  Islam ;  the  genius  of  Mo- 
hammed's successors ;  the  hope  of  plunder,  and  the  love 
of  conquest — such  are  some  of  the  causes  given  for  the 

^The  name  Mohammed  was  not  unknown  in  pagan  times.  Ibn  Khallikan 
states  that  three  Arabs  bore  it  in  the  Time  of  Ignorance,  namely  Moham- 
med bin  Snfyan,  Mohammed  bin  Uhaiyah,  and  Mohammed  bin  Humran. 
He  adds  a  story,  however,  to  prove  that  each  of  these  was  so  named  in 
honor  of  the  future  prophet!  (De  Slane,  "Translation  of  Ibn  Khallikan's 
Biographical   Dictionary,"   Vol.    Ill,   620,  flF.). 

29 


30  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

growth  of  the  new  religion  from  a  minority  of  one  to  an 
immense  army  of  beUevers.  Yet  none  of  these  theories, 
nor  all  of  them  together,  can  omit,  as  the  supreme  cause 
of  success,  the  genius  of  Mohammed.  To  the  believing 
Moslem  this  is  the  whole  explanation.  And  it  is  simple, 
because  it  is  supernatural.  All  things  are  possible  with 
God,  and  God  sent  Mohammed  as  the  last  and  greatest 
apostle. 

A  Moslem  Portrait  of  the  Prophet. — Here  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  Mohammed,  the  man  and  the  prophet,  by  Kamal 
ud  Din  ad  Damiri  (A.  D.  1349-1405),  who  was  a  theo- 
logian of  the  Shafi  school,  a  prolific  author  and  com- 
mentator, a  scientist  and  a  philosopher.  The  fact  that 
this  succinct  pen-portrait  of  the  prophet,  which  we 
quote,  occurs  incidentally  in  his  "Dictionary  of  Zoology" 
as  a  digression  does  not  detract  from  its  value  to  a  Mos- 
lem, and  rather  adds  to  it  for  us:^  ''Mohammed  is  the 
most  favored  of  mankind,  the  most  honored  of  all  the 
apostles,  the  prophet  of  mercy,  the  head  or  imam  of  the 
faithful,  the  bearer  of  the  banner  of  praise,  the  inter- 
cessor, the  holder  of  high  position,  the  possessor  of  the 
River  of  Paradise,  under  whose  banner  the  sons  of  Adam 
will  be  on  the  day  of  judgment.  He  is  the  best  of 
prophets,  and  his  nation  is  the  best  of  all  nations ;  his 
companions  are  the  most  excellent  of  mankind,  after  the 
prophets,  and  his  creed  is  the  noblest  of  all  creeds.  He 
performed  manifest  miracles,  and  possessed  great  quali- 
ties. He  was  perfect  in  intellect,  and  was  of  noble  ori- 
gin.   He  had  an  absolutely  graceful  form,  complete  gen- 

^The  quotation  is  from  Ad  Damiri's  Hayat  ul  Hayawan,  a  zoological 
lexicon  with  notes  and  digressions  on  the  folk  lore  and  history  of  the 
Arabs.  Translation  of  Lt.  Colonel  A,  S.  G.  Jayakar  (London,  1906),  Vol. 
I,  88,  89.  The  work  is  standard  throughout  the  Arabic  world  and  the  pas- 
sage given  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  his  famous  digression  on  the  early 
caliphate  under  the  article,  AI  Awizz,  the  Goose! 


MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET  3I 

ercsity,  perfect  bravery,  excessive  humility,  useful 
knowledge,  power  of  performing  high  actions,  perfect 
fear  of  God  and  sublime  piety.  He  was  the  most  elo- 
quent and  the  most  perfect  of  mankind  in  every  variety 
of  perfection,  and  the  most  distant  of  men  from  mean- 
ness and  vices.    A  poet  says  of  him: 

'The  Merciful  has  not  yet  created  one  like  Mohammed 
And  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  never  will  do  so.' 

"Aisha  stated  that  the  prophet,  when  at  home,  used  to 
serve  his  household ;  he  used  to  pick  out  the  vermin  from 
his  cloak,  and  patch  it ;  mend  his  own  shoes,  and  serve 
himself.  He  used  to  give  fodder  to  his  camel,  swxep  the 
house,  tie  the  camel  by  the  fore  leg,  eat  with  the  female 
slave,  knead  dough  with  her,  and  carry  his  own  things 
from  the  market.  And  he  used  to  be  constantly  in  a 
state  of  grief  and  anxiety,  and  never  had  any  peace  of 
mind.  Ali  stated  that  he  asked  the  prophet,  regarding 
his  mode  of  life,  and  that  he  replied:  ^Knowledge  is  my 
capital ;  love,  my  foundation ;  desire,  my  vehicle ;  the  re- 
membrance of  God,  my  boon  companion;  grief,  my 
friend ;  knowledge,  my  arms ;  patience,  my  cloak ;  the 
pleasure  of  God,  my  share  of  plunder;  poverty,  my  dis- 
tinction ;  renunciation  of  the  world,  my  profession ;  faith, 
my  strength ;  truth,  my  interceder ;  obedience  to  God,  my 
sufificiency ;  religious  war,  my  nature ;  and  the  refresher 
of  my  eye  is  prayer.'  As  to  his  humility,  liberality,  brav- 
ery, bashfulness,  fellowship,  kindness,  clemency,  mercy, 
piety,  justice,  modesty,  patience,  dignity,  trustworthiness 
and  other  praiseworthy  qualities  innumerable,  they  were 
all  very  great.  The  learned  have  composed  many  books 
regarding  his  life,  his  times,  his  mission,  his  wars,  his 
qualities,  his  miracles  and  his  good  and  amiable  actions; 


^2  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

to  describe  even  a  little  of  which  would  take  several  vol- 
umes. But  that  is  not  our  purpose  in  this  book.  It  is 
said  that  his  death  took  place  after  God  had  perfected 
our  religion,  and  completed  this  blessing  for  us,  at  noon 
on  Monday,  the  12th  of  Rabi'-al-Awal,  11  A.  H.,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three  years.  His  body  was  washed  by  Ali 
bin  Abi  Talib,  and  he  was  buried  in  the  chamber  which 
he  had  built  for  the  mother  of  the  faithful,  Aisha." 

Factors  in  Mohammed's  Life. — Whether  this  naive  and 
beautiful  characterization  of  the  prophet  will  stand  the 
test  of  Moslem  history,  we  shall  see  later  on.  Whatever 
we  may  deny  Mohammed,  we  can  never  deny  that 
he  was  a  man  of  great  talents.  But  he  was  not  a  self- 
made  man.  His  environment  accounts,  in  large  meas- 
ure, for  his  might  and  for  his  methods  as  a  religious 
leader.  What  that  environment  was  we  have  already 
seen  in  part  in  our  study  of  the  origin  and  sources  of 
Islam.  Four  factors  stand  out  clearly  in  the  life  of 
Mohammed : 

There  was,  first  of  all,  the  political  factor.  The  era 
known  as  the  "year  of  the  elephant"  had  seen  the  defeat 
of  the  Christian  army  from  Yemen,  which  came,  under 
Abraha,  to  attack  Mecca  and  destroy  the  Kaaba.  This 
victory  was,  to  the  young  and  ardent  mind  of  Moham- 
med, prophetic  of  the  political  future  of  Mecca,  and  no 
doubt  his  ambition  assigned  himself  the  chief  place  in 
the  coming  conflict  of  Arabia  against  the  Romans  and 
the  Persians.^ 

Next  came  the  religious  factor.  The  times  were  ripe 
for  religious  leadership,  and  Mecca  was  already  the  cen- 
tre of  a  new  movement.     The  Hanifs  had  rejected  the 

^Ignaz  Goldziher,  "Mohammedanische  Studien,"  Vol.  I,  40-101;  S.  W. 
Koelle,  "Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,"  first  part;  S.  M.  Zwemer, 
"Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  Chap.  XVI. 


MOHAMMED,    THE   PROPHET  33 

old  idolatry,  and  entertained  the  hope  that  a  prophet 
would  arise  from  among  them.^  There  was  material  of 
all  sorts  at  hand  to  furnish  the  platform  of  a  new  faith ; 
it  only  required  the  builder's  genius  to  call  cosmos 
out  of  chaos.  To  succeed  in  doing  this,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  reject  material  also;  to  construct  a  com- 
prehensive religion  and  a  compromising  religion,  so  as 
to  suit  Jew,  and  Christian,  and  idolater  alike.^ 

In  the  third  place,  there  was  the  family  factor;  or,  in 
other  words,  the  aristocratic  standing  of  Mohammed.  He 
was  not  a  mere  ''camel  driver."  The  Koreish  were  the 
ruling  clan  of  Mecca ;  Mecca  was  the  centre  for  all  Ara- 
bia; and  Mohammed's  grandfather,  Abd  ul  Muttalib, 
was  the  most  influential  and  powerful  man  of  that  aris- 
tocratic city.  The  pet-child  of  Abd  ul  Muttalib  was  the 
orphan  boy,  Mohammed.  Until  his  eighth  year  he  was 
under  the  shelter  and  favor  of  this  chief  man  of  the 
Koreish.  He  learned  what  it  was  to  be  lordly  and  to 
exercise  power,  and  he  never  forgot  it.  As  in  the  case 
of  so  many  other  great  men  of  history,  his  environment, 
his  early  training,  and  his  wife  were  the  determining 
personal  influences  in  the  character  of  Mohammed. 

Finally,  the  ruling  factor  was  the  mind  and  genius  of 
the  man  himself.  Of  attractive  personal  qualities,  beau- 
tiful countenance,  and  accomplished  in  business,  he  first 
won  the  attention  and  then  the  heart  of  a  very  wealthy 
widow,  Khadijah.  Koelle  tells  us  that  she  was  "evidently 
an  Arab  lady  of  strong  mind  and  mature  experience,  who 
maintained  a  decided  ascendancy  over  her  husband,  and 
managed  him  with  great  wisdom  and  firmness.  This  ap- 
pears from  nothing  more  strikingly  than  from  the  very 

^S.  W.   Koelle,  "Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,"  2j. 

2J.  Wellhausen,  "Reste  Arabischen  Heidentums,"   (Berlin,  1897),  230-242. 


34  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

remarkable  fact  that  she  succeeded  in  keeping  him  from 
marrying  any  other  wife  as  long  as  she  lived;  though, 
at  her  death,  when  he  had  long  ceased  to  be  a  young 
man,  he  indulged,  without  restraint,  in  the  multiplication 
of  wives.  But,  as  Khadijah  herself  was  favorably 
disposed  toward  Hanifism,  it  is  highly  probable  that 
she  exercised  her  commanding  influence  over  her 
husband  in  such  a  manner  as  to  promote  and  strengthen 
his  own  attachment  to  the  reformatory  sect  of  mono- 
theists." 

Mohammed  married  this  woman  when  he  had  reached 
his  twenty-fifth  year.  At  the  age  of  forty  he  began  to 
have  his  revelations,  and  to  preach  his  new  religion.  His 
first  convert,  and,  perchance,  the  most  ambitious  one,  was 
his  wife:  then  Ali  and  Zeid,  his  two  adopted  children; 
then  his  friend,  the  prosperous  merchant,  Abu  Bekr.  Such 
was  the  nucleus  for  the  new  faith. 

The  First  Period  of  His  Life} — The  exact  date  of 
Mohammed's  birth  is  unknown.  Caussin  de  Perceval 
calculates  that  the  date  was  August  20,  A.  D.  570.^  Ac- 
cording to  Sprenger,  it  was  April  13,  A.  D.  571.^  Soon 
after  his  birth,  according  to  Arab  custom,  he  was  sent 
to  be  nursed  by  Halimah,  a  woman  of  the  tribe  of  Bni 
Saad,  where  he  remained  for  a  period  of  two  years.  In 
his  sixth  year  Mohammed  was  taken  by  his  mother  to 
Medina,  but  on  the  return  journey  she  fell  sick  and 
died.  The  orphan  boy  was  then  taken  back  to  Mecca 
^  and  put  under  the  care  of  his  grandfather,  Abd  ul  Mut- 
'■  talib,  and  when  the  latter  died,  two  years  later,  under  that 
of  his  uncle,  Abu  Talib.    The  following  beautiful  verses 

^For  his  genealogy,   see  the  table  opposite. 

2A.    P.    Caussin    de    Perceval,    "Essai    sur    I'Histoire    des    Arabes    avant 
I'IsIamisme"    (Paris,    1836),    Vol.    I,    282. 
^Aloys  Sprenger,  "Das  Leben  und  die  Lehre  des  Mohammed,"  Vol.  I,  138. 


TABLE  OF  M01IAMMJ:DS  GENEALOGY 


THE  TRIBE  OF  KOREISH 


Glralib 

Lo 

vai 

Kaab 

Ada 

Morrah 

From  whom  by  descent 
OMAR  the  2nd  Caliph 

From  vlt 


Taym 


'hom 

Mohammed's  mother 


Yokdah 


From  whqm  Khalid 


AMINA  From  whom  by  descent 

ABU    BEKR,   1st  Caiiph 


Abd  Menaf 


Al  Multalib 


Abd  5hems  Naufal 


Hsrith  Zobe 


Talib  Abu  Lahib  ABDULLAH  Abbas         Harfza 


ALI(who 


MOHAMMED 


Tarried 


Fatlmah    Mohammed's  Daughter) 


Hassan        Hossem Zamab Muhsin 

l^Sth  Caliph) 

FATIMAH 


IBRAHIM 


-,d  five  other  children  with  Khadijah      with  Mary  the  Coptic  slave 
(All  except  Fatimah  died  before  Mohammed  and  without  issue) 


MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET  35 

in  the  Koran  are  Mohammed's  eloquent  reference  to  this 
period  of  his  Hfe : 

"I  swear  by  the  splendor  of  light 

And  by  the  silence  of  night 

That  the  Lord  shall  never  forsake  thee 

Nor  in  His  hatred  take  thee; 

Truly  for  thee  shall  be  winning 

Better  than  all  beginning. 

Soon  shall  the  Lord  console  thee,  grief  no  longer  control  thee, 

And  fear  no  longer  cajole  thee. 

Thou  wert  an  orphan-boy,  yet  the  Lord  found  room  for  thy  head. 

When  thy  feet  went  astray,  were  they  not  to  the  right  path  led? 

Did  he  not  find  thee  poor,  yet  riches  around  thee  spread  ? 

Then  on  the  orphan-boy,  let  thy  proud  foot  never  tread. 

And  never  turn  away  the  beggar  who  asks  for  bread, 

But  of  the  Lord's  bounty  ever  let  praise  be  sung  and  said."i 

When  twelve  years  old  Mohammed  was  taken  on  a 
mercantile  journey  as  far  as  Syria.  Here  first  he  came 
in  contact  with  Christians  and,  according  to  tradition, 
met  the  monk  Buhaira.  For  the  rest  the  youth  of  Mo- 
hammed was  uneventful,  and  he  was  employed,  as  other 
lads,  in  herding  sheep  and  goats.  To  this  he  refers  in 
the  traditional  saying,  ''Verily  there  hath  been  no 
prophet  who  hath  not  performed  the  work  of  a  shep- 
herd." At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  entered  the  service 
of  Khadijah,  a  rich  widow  of  ^lecca,  whose  caravan  of 
merchandise  he  attended,  and  once  more  visited  Busra 
(near  the  Jordan),  Aleppo  and  Damascus.  As  a  reward 
of  faithful  service  he  secured  her  hand  in  marriage,  and 
lived  happily  with  her.  His  marriage  gave  him  promi- 
nence, and  he  took  a  leading  part  in  renewing  an  old 
federation  at  Mecca.     In  his  thirty-fifth  year  he  settled 

^Surah    93.     Translation   printed   in   the  Edinburgh  Review  for  July,    1866. 
Article    "Mohammed."     It  has  all  the  rhyme  and  beauty  of  the  original. 


2,^  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO   FAITH 

a  dispute  regarding  the  placing  of  the  Black  Stone  in  re- 
construction of  the  Kaaba.  When  he  approached  the  age 
of  forty  he  gave  his  mind  to  contemplation,  and  probably 
composed  some  of  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  Koran.^ 
At  last  he  received  the  call  to  become  a  prophet  in  the 
cave  of  Hira,  and  communicated  his  vision  to  his  wife, 
Khadijah,  who  believed  in  its  validity.  After  a  period 
of  mental  depression  other  revelations  followed,  and  he 
began  to  preach.  The  next  two  converts  were  Ali  and 
Zeid,  his  adopted  children;  then  Abu  Bekr,  Othman, 
Talha — until  they  numbered  fifty  souls.  The  hostility  of 
the  Meccans  was  aroused,  persecution  began,  and  some 
fled  to  Abyssinia.  In  the  sixth  year  of  his  mission, 
Hamza  and  Omar  joined  Islam.  In  the  tenth  year 
Khadijah  died,  and  the  same  year  Mohammed  negotiated 
two  new  marriages.  Attempting  to  convert  the  people 
of  Taif,  he  was  driven  out,  but  he  won  over  a  party  of 
twelve  from  Medina,  who  came  on  pilgrimage  and 
preached  the  faith  on  their  return.  At  the  next  season 
seventy  were  ready  to  take  the  pledge  of  allegiance  at 
Akaba.  Shortly  after  Mohammed  determined  to  flee 
from  Mecca  to  Medina,  and  this  flight  dates  the  Moslem 
era  (622  A.  D.). 

The  Second  Period. — The  flight  to  Medina  changed 
not  only  the  scene,  but  the  actor  and  drama.  He  who 
at  Mecca  was  the  preacher  and  warner,  now  becomes 
the  legislator  and  warrior.  This  is  evident  from  the 
Koran  chapters  revealed  after  the  Hegira.  The  first 
year  Mohammed  built  the  great  mosque  and  houses  for 
his  wives  and  his  followers.  The  next  year  he  began 
hostilities  against  the  Koreish  of  Mecca,  and  the  first 
pitched  battle  was  fought  at  Bedr,  where  his  force  of 

^Surahs  103,  100,  i,  loi,  95,  104,  92,  91  and  106. 


MOHAMMED,    THE   PROPHET  37 

three  hundred  and  five  followers  routed  the  enemy,  three 
times  as  strong.^ 

The  Koreish,  aroused  by  the  defeat  at  Bedr,  advanced 
upon  Medina,  defeated  the  Moslem  army  at  Ohod,  and 
Mohammed  himself  was  seriously  wounded.  The  fourth 
year  of  the  Hegira,  war  was  waged  against  the  tribe  of 
Asad  and  the  Jews  of  Bni  Nazir;  Mohammed  also  mar- 
ried a  fifth  and  sixth  wife.  At  the  battle  of  the  Ditch 
he  defended  Medina  against  a  superior  force,  and  broke 
up  their  siege.  The  next  expedition  was  against  the  Jews 
of  Bni  Koraiza;  seven  hundred  captives  were  slain,  and 
the  women  and  children  sold  into  slavery.^  Before  the 
close  of  this  year  Mohammed  married  Zainab,  the  wife 
of  his  freed  slave  and  adopted  son.^  In  the  sixth  year 
of  the  Hegira  there  were  other  expeditions  against  the 
Jews  and  idolaters.  The  same  year  Mohammed  wTOte 
letters  to  foreign  kings  and  princes,  inviting  them  to  em- 
brace Islam. 

In  the  seventh  year  of  the  Hegira  Mohammed  assem- 
bled a  force  of  sixteen  hundred  warriors  and  marched 
against  the  Jewish  strongholds  at  Khaibar;  the  Jews 
were  subjugated  or  slain,  and  there  was  much  booty,  in- 
cluding a  new  wife — Safiyah — for  the  prophet.  It  was 
during  the  Khaibar  expedition  that  Mohammed  legalized 

^The  description  of  the  battle  by  Muir  is  graphic  in  all  its  gruesome 
details.  "Abu  Jahl  was  yet  breathing  when  Abdullah,  Mohammed's  servant, 
ran  up  and,  cutting  off  his  head,  carried  it  to  his  master.  'The  head  of  the 
enemy  of  God,'  cried  Mohammed;  'God,  there  is  no  other  god  but  He.' 
'There  is  no  other,'  said  Abdullah,  as  he  cast  the  bloody  head  at  the 
Prophet's  feet.  'It  is  more  acceptable  to  me,'  cried  Mohammed,  'than 
the  choicest  camel  in  all  Arabia.'  "  After  the  battle  Mohammed  gave  the 
law  in  regard  to  the  division  of  the  spoil,  one-fifth  for  the  prophet  and  for 
the  rest  share  and  share  alike  to  all.  No  quarter  was  given  to  the  enemy, 
and  even  two  days  after  the  battle  the  chief  prisoners,  among  them  Okba 
and   Nazir,   were  slain. 

^This  massacre  is  commended  in  Surah  33,  verse  25. 

sSurah  33:36-38. 


38  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

"temporary  marriages,"^   altho  it  is  said  he  afterward 
abolished  the  abominable   custom.     At  Khaibar   also   a 
Jewess  attempted  to  poison  him,  but  the  deed  was  dis- 
covered, and  she  was  immediately  put  to  death.    After- 
ward Mohammed  made  the  attempt  to  perform  the  sa- 
cred pilgrimage  to  the  old  Pantheon  at  Mecca,  but  was 
turned  back.     The  next  year,  the  eighth  of  the  Hegira, 
in  pursuance  of  the  terms  of  the  truce  made  at  Hodai- 
biya,  he  entered  Mecca  and  peacefully  performed  the 
ceremonies  of  the  old  pagan  cult,  thus  forever  perpetu- 
ating them  in  Islam.     At  Mecca  he  negotiated  his  last 
marriage,  and  through   it  won   Khalid,  **the   Sword  of 
God,"  and  Omar,  "the  Valiant,"  as  converts.    The  army 
sent  under  them  to  Southern   Syria  met  with  disaster, 
and  there  was  also  renewed  hostility  at  Mecca.    There- 
fore Mohammed  resolved  to  attack  his  native  city.     He 
approached  with  ten  thousand  men,  entered  Mecca  with- 
out a  battle,  destroyed  the  idols  in  the  Kaaba,  and  ad- 
ministered the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  people.     When 
expeditions  were  sent  to  subdue  the  neighboring  tribes, 
and  Khalid  was  guilty  of  ordering  a  whole  tribe  to  be 
slain,  Mohammed  rebuked  him  and  sent  money  for  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  the  slain.    The  ninth  year  of  the 
Hegira  was  the  year  of  deputations,  when  the  various 
Arabian  tribes  accepted  Islam.     Other  warlike  expedi- 
tions to  Tabuk,  Duma  and  Taif  followed.     In  A.  D.  631 
Mohammed  issued  the  famous  command  that,  after  four 
years,  the  Moslems  would  be  absolved  from  every  league 
or  covenant  with  idolaters,  and  that  thereafter  no  unbe- 
liever would  be  allowed  to  make  the  pilgrimage.     The 
same  year  he  had  a  great  sorrow  in  the  death  of  his  little 
son,  Ibrahim.    The  next  year,  in  great  state,  he  made  the 

^See  Chapter  VI   of  this  volume, 


"^m^^^^^^miifM^m^m 


MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET  39 

final  pilgrimage,  but  the  excitement  and  fatigue  told  on 
his  health,  for  he  was  growing  infirm.  Three  danger- 
ous revolts  by  rival  prophets — Musailimah,  Iswad  and 
Tulaiha— broke  out  in  Arabia,  which  were  all  subdued, 
but  not  until  after  the  death  of  Mohammed.  The  proph- 
et's health  grew  worse;  sixty-three  years  of  checkered 
life  had  undermined  his  iron  constitution,  and  perhaps 
the  poison  of  Khaibar  had  left  its  trace  in  his  system. 
From  his  sick-bed  he  sent  out  a  last  expedition,  under 
Osama,  against  the  Roman  border ;  and,  after  a  final  ad- 
dress from  the  mosque  pulpit,  having  given  alms  to  the 
poor  and  counsel  to  his  followers,  he  lay  down  to  die  on 
Aisha's  lap. 

Muir,  following  the  oldest  Moslem  biographers,  tells 
the  rest  of  the  story  thus:  "His  strength  now  rapidly 
sank.  He  seemed  to  be  aware  that  death  was  drawing 
near.  He  called  for  a  pitcher  of  water  and,  wxtting  his 
face,  prayed  thus,  *0  Lord,  I  beseech  Thee  to  assist  me 
in  the  agonies  of  death.'  Then  three  times  he  ejaculated, 
most  earnestly,  'Gabriel,  come  close  to  me!'  .  .  . 
After  a  little  he  prayed  in  a  whisper,  'Lord,  grant  me 
pardon,  and  join  me  to  the  companionship  on  high.'  Then 
at  intervals :  'Eternity  in  Paradise !  Pardon !  Yes,  the 
blessed  companionship  on  high.'  He  stretched  himself 
gently.  Then  all  was  still.  His  head  grew  heavy  on  the 
breast  of  Aisha.   The  prophet  of  Arabia  was  dead."^ 

His  Personal  Appearance. — Mohammed  is  described 
in  tradition  as  a  man  above  middle  height,  of  spare  fig- 
ure, as  are  nearly  all  the  Arabs,  commanding  presence, 
massive  head,  noble  brow,  jet  black  hair,  and  a  long 
bushy  beard.  His  eyes  were  piercing.  Decision  marked 
his  every  movement,  and  he  always  walked  rapidly.  This 

^Sir  William  Muir,  "Life  of  Mahomet." 


40  islam:    a  challenge 'to  faith 

picture  is  doubtless  reliable,  and  shows  us  something  of 
the  man  of  whom  the  world  has  never  seen  contemporane- 
ous portrait  or  sculpture.  All  writers  seem  to  agree  that 
he  had  the  genius  to  command,  and  expected  obedience 
from  equals  as  well  as  inferiors.  James  Freeman  Clarke^ 
says  that  to  him,  more  than  to  any  other  of  whom  history 
makes  mention,  was  given 

"The  monarch  mind,  the  mystery  of  commanding, 
The  birth-hour  gift,  the  art  Napoleon 
Of  wielding,  moulding,  gathering,  welding,  banding 
The  hearts  of  thousands  till  they  moved  as  one." 

His  Character. — The  character  of  Mohammed  is  one 
of  the  great  problems  of  history.  Altho  the  sources  of 
our  information  concerning  his  life  and  work  are  all 
Mohammedan,  and  the  Koran  is  his  book,  there  is  the 
greatest  diversity  of  opinion  among  students  of  history, 
medanism  in  the  twelfth  century,  concludes  that  Mo- 
hammed was  in  no  sense  of  the  word  a  prophet;^  while 
Bosworth  Smith  and  Thomas  Carlyle  maintain  that 
he  was  "a  very  Prophet  of  God."^  Saiyad  Ameer  AH  suc- 
ceeds, by  clever  argument,  in  eliminating  every  sensual, 
harsh  and  ignorant  trait  from  the  character  of  Moham- 
med.* In  contrast  to  this,  we  may  read  what  Hugh 
Broughton  quaintly  wrote  in  1662:  "Now  consider  this 
Moamed  or  Machumed,  whom  God  gave  up  to  a  blind 
mind,  an  Ishmaelite,  being  a  poor  man  till  he  married 

^James  Freeman  Clarke,   "Ten  Great  Religions." 

^"Zwei  Biicher  gegen  den  Mohammedanismus  von  Petrus  Venerabilis,  ins 
Deutsche  iibersetzt  von  John.  Thoma."  (Leipsic,  1896,  Akademische  Buch- 
handlung.) 

^R.    Bosworth    Smith,    "Mohammed    and    Mohammedanism,"    340. 

*"The  Spirit  of  Islam;  or,  The  Life  and  Teachings  of  Mohammed"  (Cal- 
cutta,   1902),    78-85;    102-113,    etc. 


THE  HERO  AS  PROPHET, 


A  LECTURE, 


BY 


THOMAS  CARLYLE. 


PUBLISHED   BY 

THS  Z^OHAMIVEADAN  TRACT  AND  BOOK 
DSFOT,  PUZrJAB. 


^  a  h  o  r  2  : 
PRINTED  AT  THE  ISLAMLi  PRESS. 


1893. 


M.  Y.  PRB83,  (Price  per  copy  two  annas.) 

FACSIMILE  TITLE  TAtlE  OF  A  MOSLEM  TRACT 

A  reprint  of  Carlyle's   essay  on  Mohammed,   published   by  the   New  Islam 
movement  in  India,  indicating  the  activity  of  Moslem  propaganda 

40 


MOHAMMED,   THE    PROPHET  4I 

a  widow ;  wealthy  then  and  of  high  countenance,  having 
the  falHng  sickness  and  being  tormented  by  the  devil, 
whereby  the  widow  was  sorry  that  she  had  matched 
with  him.  He  persuaded  her,  by  himself  and  others,  that 
his  fits  were  but  a  trance  wherein  he  talked  with  the 
angel  Gabriel.  So,  in  time,  the  impostor  was  reputed  a 
prophet  of  God  and,  from  Judaism,  Arius,  Nestorius,  and 
his  own  brain,  he  frameth  a  doctrine."  Not  altogether 
bad  for  a  seventeenth-century  synopsis ! 

In  our  day  the  critical  labors  of  Arabic  scholars,  like 
Sprenger,  Weil,  Muir,  Koelle,  and  others,  have  given  us 
a  more  correct  idea  of  Mohammed's  life  and  character, 
but  the  pendulum  is  still  swinging,  and  will  come  to  rest 
probably  between  the  two  extremes.  Sir  ^'"'iliam  Muir, 
Marcus  Dods,  and  others,  claim  that  Mohammed  was  at 
first  sincere  and  upright,  himself  believing  in  his  so- 
called  revelations,  but  that  afterward,  intoxicated  by 
success,  he  used  the  dignity  of  his  prophetship  for  per- 
sonal ends,  and  was  conscious  of  deceiving  the  people 
in  some  of  his  later  revelations.  Koelle  finds  the  key  to 
the  first  period  of  Mohammed's  life  In  Khadijah,  his 
first  wife,  who  directed  his  ambitions  and  controlled  his 
passions  by  her  maturity  and  good  management.  After 
her  death  he  revealed  what  he  had  always  been,  and  gave 
vent  to  his  hitherto  restrained  passions.  Aloys  Sprenger 
finds  the  solution  of  the  problem  in  the  epileptic  fits  to 
which  Mohammed  was  subject,  at  least  once  in  his 
youth,  and  often  in  later  years :  "The  fit,  after  which  he 
assumed  his  office,  was  undoubtedly  brought  on  by  long- 
continued  and  increasing  mental  excitement,  and  by  his 
ascetic  exercises.  We  know  that  he  used  frequently  to 
fast,  and  that  he  sometimes  devoted  the  greater  part  of 
the  night  to  prayer.     The  bias  of  the  Mohammedans  is 


42  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

to  gloss  over  the  aberration  of  their  prophet's  mind  and 
his  intention  to  commit  suicide.  Most  of  his  biogra- 
phers pass  over  the  transition  period  in  silence.  We 
may,  therefore,  be  justified  in  stretching  the  scanty  in- 
formation which  we  can  glean  from  them  to  the  utmost 
extent,  and  in  supposing  that  he  was,  for  some  time,  a 
complete  maniac,  and  that  the  fit  after  which  he  assumed 
his  office  was  a  paroxysm  of  cataleptic  insanity.  This 
disease  is  sometimes  accompanied  by  such  interesting 
psychical  phenomena  that,  even  in  modern  times,  it  gives 
rise  to  many  superstitious  opinions."^ 

Aside  from  the  disputed  question  of  Mohammed's  sin- 
cerity, whether  in  his  early  career  or  throughout  his 
life,  no  one  can  say  that  his  moral  character  reached  a 
high  standard.  It  is  possible  to  measure  the  prophet 
by  three  standards,  of  which  two  at  least  would  seem 
to  be  a  fair  test :  The  law  of  the  Pagan  Arabs,  the  law 
he  himself  professed  to  reveal,  and  the  law  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  zvhicli  he  professed  to  approve  and 
supersede.  By  the  New  Testament  law  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  was  the  last  Prophet  before  Mohammed  and  whom 
Mohammed  acknowledged  as  the  Word  of  God,  the  Ara- 
bian prophet  stands  self-condemned.  The  most  cursory 
examination  of  his  biography  proves  that  he  repeatedly 
broke  every  precept  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  not 
only  in  his  private  life,  hut  in  his  prophetic  oifice.  And 
the  Koran  itself  proves  that  the  spirit  of  Jesus  was  en- 
tirely absent  from  the  mind  of  IMohammed. 

The  Arabs  among  whom  Mohammed  was  born  and 
grew  to  manhood  also  had  a  law,  altho  they  were  idola- 
ters, slaveholders  and  polygamists.  Even  the  robbers  of 
the  desert  who,  like  Mohammed,  lay  in  wait  for  cara- 

^Aloys  Sprenger,  "Life  of  Mohammed,"  VoL  I,  949.    (Allahabad,  1851.) 


MOHAMMED,   THE    PROPHET  43 

vans,  had  a  code  of  honor.  Three  flagrant  breaches  of 
this  code  stain  the  character  of  Mohammed.^  It  was 
quite  lawful  to  marry  a  captive  woman,  whose  relatives 
had  been  slain  in  battle,  but  not  until  three  months  after 
their  death.  Mohammed  only  waited  three  days  in  the 
case  of  the  Jewess,  Safiyah.  It  was  lawful  to  rob  mer- 
chants, but  not  pilgrims,  on  their  way  to  Mecca.  Mo- 
hammed broke  this  old  law,  and  "revealed  a  verse"  to 
justify  his  conduct.  In  the  ''Time  of  Ignorance"  it  was 
incest  to  marry  the  wife  of  an  adopted  son,  even  after 
his  decease.  The  prophet  Mohammed  fell  in  love  with 
the  lawful  wife  of  his  adopted  son,  Zeid,  prevailed  on 
him  to  divorce  her,  and  then  married  her  immediately ; 
for  this  also  he  had  a  "special  revelation."  The  latest 
biographer  of  Mohammed,  Professor  D.  S.  Margoliouth, 
writes :  "Of  any  moralizing  or  demoralizing  effect  which 
Mohammed's  teaching  had  upon  his  followers,  we  can- 
not speak  with  precision.  When  he  was  at  the  head  of 
a  robber  community  (in  Medina)  it  is  probable  that  the 
demoralizing  influence  began  to  be  felt ;  it  was  then  that 
men  who  had  never  broken  an  oath  learned  that  they 
might  evade  their  obligations,  and  that  men  to  whom  the 
blood  of  the  clansmen  had  been  as  their  own  began  to 
shed  it  with  impunity  in  the  cause  of  God ;  and  that  lying 
and  treachery,  in  the  cause  of  Islam,  received  divine  ap- 
proval, hesitation  to  perjure  oneself  in  that  cause  being 
represented  as  a  weakness.  It  was  then,  too,  that  Mos- 
lems became  distinguished  by  the  obscenity  of  their  lan- 
guage. It  was  then,  too,  that  the  coveting  of  goods  and 
wives  (possessed  by  unbelievers)  was  avowed  without 
discouragement  from  the  prophet. "- 

^Sir   William   Muir,    "Mahomet";    Sprenger,    Koelle,    etc. 
^D.    S.    Margoliouth,    "Mohammed   and    the    Rise    of   Islam"    (New   York 
and  London,  1905),  149.    Every  statement  given  is  based  on  original  Moslem 


44  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

But  Mohammed  was  not  only  guilty  of  breaking  the 
old  Arab  laws,  and  coming  infinitely  short  of  the  law  of 
Christ ;  he  never  even  kept  the  laws  of  which  he  claimed 
to  be  the  divinely  appointed  medium  and  custodian. 
When  Khadijah  died  he  found  his  own  law,  lax  as  it 
was,  insufficient  to  restrain  his  lusts.  His  followers  were 
to  be  content  with  four  lawful  wives;  according  to  tra- 
dition, he  took  to  himself  eleven  lawful  wives  and  two 
concubines.^  It  is  impossible  to  form  a  just  estimate 
of  the  character  of  Mohammed,  unless  we  know  some- 
what of  his  relations  with  women.  This  subject,  how- 
ever, is,  of  necessity,  shrouded  from  decent  eyes,  be- 
cause   of    the    brutality   and    coarseness    of   its    charac- 

sources,  viz.,  for  this  paragraph:    Bokhari  IV,  90;   Musnad    IV,  256;  Mus- 
nad    IV,  79;  Ishak    433,  744;  Ibn  Saad    III,   116,    13,   etc. 

ii.  Khadijah. — A  rich  lady  who  had  been  twice  married.  She  remained 
Mohammed's  only  wife  for  twenty-five  years.  The  mother  of  two  sons  and 
four  daughters. 

2.  Saudah.— Widow  of  Sakran.  Married  Mohammed  two  months  after 
death  of  Khadijah. 

3.  'AiSHA. — Daughter  of  Abu  Bekr.  Betrothed  when  seven  years  old; 
married  at  ten.     His  favorite  wife. 

4.  Juwa[rijah. — Widow  of  Al  Harith.  Ransomed  for  nine  ounces  of 
gold  by  Mohammed. 

5.  Hafsah. — Daughter  of  Omar;  widow  of  Khunais. 

6.  Zainab. — Widow  of   Mohammed's  cousin,   Obaidah. 

7.  Um   Salmah. — Widow  of  Abu  Salima,  who  died  in  battle. 

8.  Zainab. — Wife  of  Mohammed's  adopted  son,  Zaid,  who  divorced  her 
to  please  the  prophet  (Surah  33:36).     By  Arab  law  she  was  unlawful  to  him. 

9.  Safiyah. — Widow  of  a  Khaibar  chief,  who  was  cruelly  put  to  death. 

10.  LTm  Habibah.— Widow  of  one  of  the  four  Moslems  who  emigrated  to 
Abyssinia,  and  there  became  Christians. 

11.  Maimunah.— Daughter  of  El  Harith. 

12.  Mary,  the  Coptic  Slave  (concubine).— A  Christian  slave-girl  sent  to 
Mohammed  by  the  Roman  governor  of  Egypt. 

13.  Rihanah.— A  Jewess,  whose  husband  was  slain  in  the  massacre  of  the 
Bni  Koraiza.  After  the  victory  trenches  were  dug  across  the  market-place 
and,  one  by  one,  the  male  captives,  by  Mohammed's  orders,  were  beheaded 
on  the  brink  of  the  trench  and  cast  into  it.  The  butchery  lasted  all  day, 
and  It  needed  torchlight  to  finish  it.  After  dark  Rihanah  was  taken  to  Mo- 
hammed's  tent.— Ma jma'-ul-Bihar,  p.  528;  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  p. 


MOHAMMED,    THE   PROPHET  45 

ter.^  A  recent  writer  in  a  leading  missionary  maga- 
zine, touching  on  this  subject,  says :  ''We  must  pass 
the  matter  over,  simply  noting  that  there  are  depths  of 
filth  in  the  prophet's  character  which  may  assort  well 
enough  with  the  depraved  sensuality  of  the  bulk  of  his 
followers,  .  .  .  but  which  are  simply  loathsome  in 
the  eyes  of  all  over  whom  Christianity,  in  any  measure 
or  degree,  has  influence."  We  have  no  inclination  to  lift 
the  veil  that,  in  most  English  biographies,  covers  the 
family-life  of  the  prophet  of  Arabia.  But  it  is  only  fair 
to  remark  that  these  love-adventures,  and  the  disgusting 
details  of  his  married  life,  form  a  large  part  of  the  "lives 
of  the  prophet  of  God,"  which  are  the  fireside  literature 
of  educated  Moslems  in  all  lands  where  Mohammed 
is  the  ideal  of  character  and  the  standard  of  morality. 
The  list  of  Mohammed's  wives  will  be  a  sufficient 
index  to  the  subject  for  any  student  of  Arabic  liter- 
ature. 

Finally,  we  can  only  say,  with  Johnstone:  **If  it  be 
thought  that  the  judgment  passed  on  the  prophet  of 
Arabia  is  harsh,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  evidence 
on  which  it  rests  comes  all  from  the  lips  and  the  pens 
of  his  own  devoted  adherents.  The  voice  of  foes  or  de- 
tractors of  his  own  time,  or  of  time  immediately  follow- 
ing, has  not  yet  reached  the  ears  of  later  ages.  Every- 
thing that  could  tend  to  his  glory  was  eagerly  sought 
out  and  treasured  up  by  men  jealous  of  his  good  name ; 
and  everything  that  might  seem  to  detract  therefrom 
was  carefully  suppressed.  His  lightest  words  were  sa- 
cred to  them,  his  most  trifling  actions  were  the  example 
they  strove  to  follow.    To  them  he  was  the  highest  and 

iSee  Insan  el  Ayun,  Ibn  Ishak,  Bokhari,  etc.     Or  Paul  de  Regla,  quota- 
tions in  "El  Kitab  des  Lois  Secretes  de  TAmour."     (Paris,  1906.) 


46  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

most  excellent  of  the  creatures  of  God's  hand — last  and 
most  perfect  of  the  messengers  who  declared  His  will  to 
man.  The  vast  body  of  tradition  which  was  traced  back 
to  the  lips  of  those  who  had  most  closely  companied 
with  him  was  jealously  sifted  and  scrutinized,  though  not 
tested  by  the  canons  of  Western  criticism;  it  is  on  this 
that  our  knowledge  is  founded  and  our  judgment  passed. 
And  the  followers  of  the  prophet  can  scarcely  complain 
if,  even  on  such  evidence,  the  verdict  of  history  goes 
against  himj"^ 

The  Apotheosis  of  Mohammed. — The  life  and  charac- 
ter of  Mohammed,  as  portrayed  by  his  earliest  biogra- 
phers— Ibn  Ishak,  Ibn  Hisham,  Wakidi,  and  others — is, 
however,  not  the  present-day  conception  of  the  prophet. 
In  the  Koran  and  in  these  earliest  sources  Mohammed 
is  thoroughly  human  and  liable  to  error.  Later  tradition 
has  changed  all  that,  and  made  him  sinless  and  almost 
divine.  The  two  hundred  and  one  titles  of  honor  given 
him  proclaim  his  apotheosis,^  and  orthodox  tradition 
establishes  the  claim.  He  is  called  Light  of  God,  Peace 
of  the  World,  Glory  of  the  Ages,  First  of  all  Creatures, 
and  names  yet  more  lofty  and  blasphemous.  He  is  at 
once  the  sealer  and  abrogator  of  all  former  prophets 
and  revelations.  They  have  not  only  been  succeeded,  but 
also  supplanted  by  Mohammed.  No  Moslem  prays  to 
him,  but  every  Moslem  daily  prays  for  him  in  endless 
repetition.  He  is  the  only  powerful  intercessor  on  the 
day  of  judgment.  Every  detail  of  his  early  life  is  at- 
tributed to  divine  permission  or  command,  and  so  the 
very  faults  of  his  character  are  his  endless  glory  and  his 

^P.   de  Lacy  Johnstone,  "Muhammad  and  his  Power." 

^For  the  list  of  these  lordly  names,   many  of  which  are  similar  to  those 

given  to  God,   see  Sinajet  et  Tarb,   Beirut  edition,  or  any  recent  Moslem 

biography.     Zwemer,  "Moslem  Doctrine  of  God,"  46. 


MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET  47 

sign  of  superiority.^  God  favored  him  above  all  crea- 
tures. He  dwells  in  the  highest  heaven,  and  is  several 
degrees  above  Jesus  in  honor  and  station.  His  name  is 
never  uttered  or  written  without  the  addition  of  a  prayer. 
*'Ya  Mohammed"  is  the  open  sesame  to  every  door  of 
difficulty — temporal  or  spiritual.  One  hears  that  name 
in  the  bazaar  and  in  the  street,  in  the  mosque  and  from 
the  minaret.  Sailors  sing  it  while  hoisting  their  sails ; 
hammals  groan  it,  to  raise  a  burden ;  the  beggar  howls  it, 
to  obtain  alms ;  it  is  the  Bedouin's  cry  in  attacking  a 
caravan;  it  hushes  babes  to  sleep,  as  a  cradle-song;  it 
is  the  pillow  of  the  sick,  and  the  last  word  of  the  dying; 
it  is  written  on  the  door-posts  and  in  their  hearts  as  well 
as,  since  eternity,  on  the  throne  of  God;  it  is  to  the  de- 
vout Moslem  the  name  above  every  name ;  grammarians 
can  tell  you  how  its  four  letters  are  representative  of  all 
the  sciences  and  mysteries  by  their  wonderful  combina- 
tion. The  name  of  Mohammed  is  the  best  to  give  a 
child,  and  the  best  to  swear  by,  for  an  end  of  all  dis- 
pute, in  a  close  bargain.  In  some  biographies  of  Mo- 
hammed we  are  solemnly  told  that  God  created  man  in 
the  image  of  Mohammed's  name,  as  written  in  Arabic 

on  His  throne:  >v^  jt  viz.,  M  h  m  d,  and  that 
the  four  postures  in  prayer  are  indicative  of  the  four 
characters  in  his  other  name,  >>-t>|  both  of  which 
naive  theories  seem  very  plausible  to  the  devout  Mos- 
lem of  to-day. 

The  exceeding  honor  given  to  Mohammed's  name 
by  his  followers  is  only  one  indication  of  the  place 
their  prophet  occupies  in  their  system  and  holds  in 
their  hearts.     From  the  fullness  of  the  heart  the  mouth 

^S.   M.   Zwemer,   "Arabia;   the   Cradle  of  Islam,"   185;   Ameer  AH,   "The 
Spirit  of  Islam,"  Arabic  quotations,  i,  no,  etc. 


48  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

speaketh.  Mohammed  holds  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell. 
No  Moslem,  however  bad  his  character,  will  perish  fin- 
ally; no  unbeliever,  however  good  his  life,  can  be  saved, 
except  through  Mohammed.  One  has  only  to  question 
the  Moslem  masses,  whether  in  Morocco  or  Java,  or  to 
read  a  single  volume  of  'Traditions,"  for  proof  of  this 
statement.  Islam  denies  the  need  of  a  mediator  or  of 
the  incarnation,  but  it  is  evident  that,  in  popular  thought 
and  in  Moslem  writings,  Mohammed  acts  as  a  mediator, 
zvithout  an  incarnation,  without  an  atonement,  without 
demand  for  change  of  character.  For  illustration,  let 
this  story  of  the  Jew  suffice,  altho  it  could  be  matched 
with  a  hundred  others  equally  absurd,  yet  equally 
credited : 

"In  the  days  of  the  children  of  Israel  there  was  a  sin- 
ful and  flagitious  man  who,  for  the  space  of  two  hun- 
dred years,  wearied  everyone  by  the  enormity  of  his  of- 
fences. When  he  died  they  threw  his  corpse  upon  a 
dunghill,  but  no  sooner  had  this  been  done  than  Gabriel, 
coming  to  Moses,  said:  'Thus  saith  the  Almighty  God, 
This  day  My  friend  has  departed  from  this  world,  and 
the  people  have  cast  his  corpse  upon  a  dunghill.  Now 
let  that  corpse  be  dressed  and  prepared  for  burial  with- 
out delay :  and  ye  shall  speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
that  they  forthwith  recite  the  burial  service  over  his  bier 
if  they  desire  pardon.'  Then  Moses  marveled  exceed- 
ingly, and  inquired  why  forgiveness  was  required,  and 
God  answered:  'The  Lord  well  knoweth  all  the  sins 
which  that  sinner  hath  during  these  two  hundred  years 
committed;  and,  verily,  he  never  could  have  been  par- 
doned. But,  one  day,  this  wicked  man  was  reading  the 
Torah  and,  seeing  there  the  name  of  the  blessed  Mo- 
hammed, he  wept  and  pressed  the  page  to  his  eyes.    This 


MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET  49 

honor  and  reverence  shown  to  My  beloved  was  pleasing 
unto  Me,  and  from  the  blessed  effects  of  that  single  act 
I  have  blotted  out  the  sins  of  the  whole  two  hundred 
years.'  Lovers  of  the  blessed  Mohammed!  rejoice  in 
your  hearts,  and  be  assured  that  love  for  the  holy  proph- 
et, the  Lord  of  creation,  is,  in  every  possible  condition, 
the  means  of  salvation."^ 

The  "Coronation  Hymn"  of  Islam. — Among  all  the 
books  and  poems  written  in  praise  of  Mohammed  there 
is  none  so  popular,  or  so  celebrated,  as  "the  poem  of  the 
mantle,"  ''El  Burda."  It  is  the  "Coronation  Hymn"  of 
the  Moslem  world  and,  had  Islam  music  in  its  public 
worship,  would  hold  the  place  among  them  that  "Ail 
Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Name"  does  among  Christians. 
It  is  read  at  public  festivals,  sung  by  travelling  dervishes 
and  printed  in  books  of  devotion.  It  has  been  translated 
into  nearly  all  the  languages  of  the  Mohammedan  world, 
as  well  as  into  Latin,  German,  French  and  English.  More 
than  thirty  commentaries  on  the  poem  exist  in  Arabic, 
and  twenty-one  Arabic  poets  have  exercised  their  in- 
genuity in  poetical  paraphrases  of  the  text.  One  of 
these  books  even  sets  forth  the  various  medical  benefits 
to  be  derived  from  the  poem  when  properly  transcribed 
for  amulets  and  charms.- 

The  author  of  the  poem  was  Sharif  ud  Din  Moham- 
mad el  Busiri,  of  Berber  origin,  born  in  Egypt  about 
I2I2  A.  D.  His  history  is  obscure,  and  even  the  date 
and  place  of  his  death  is  uncertain.  Although  he  wTote 
other  poetry,  his  fame  is  due  solely  to  verses  written  in 

^This  story  is  given  on  page  3  of  a  life  of  Mohammed,  published  at 
Agra,  in  1852,  and  also  in  the  book  "Insan  el  Ayun,"  an  authority  in 
Arabia  and  Egypt.  There  are  many  similar  tales  current;  one  relates  that 
even    Satan    has    benefit    from    the    coming    of    Mohammed. 

^See  references  in   Brockelmann,  "Geschichte  der  Arabischen   Literatur." 


50  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

praise  of  Mohammed.  The  occasion  on  which  he  wrote 
"El  Burda"  is  thus  given  in  his  own  words:  "It  hap- 
pened that  I  was  struck  with  paralysis  on  my  left  side, 
and  besought  Allah  to  cure  me.  Shortly  after  I  was 
composing  my  poem,  in  honor  of  the  prophet,  when  he 
appeared  in  a  vision  and  passed  his  blessed  hand  over 
my  side.  The  result  was  a  complete  cure."  Later  tra- 
ditions add  that  Mohammed  also  threw  his  mantle  over 
the  poet,  and  thus  the  poem  received  its  name.  But  this 
part  of  the  story  happens  to  be  borrowed  from  the  "Life 
of  Kaab  bin  Zuhair,"  a  contemporary  of  the  prophet. 
This  man  first  mocked  Mohammed's  mission,  and  after- 
ward, afraid  of  vengeance,  appeased  the  prophet  by 
verses  in  his  honor.  On  this  occasion  Mohammed  for- 
gave his  enemy,  and  actually  gave  him  a  mantle.  This 
precious  heirloom  is  still  preserved  in  Constantinople, 
according  to  Moslem  authorities. 

Not  only  the  story  of  its  composition,  but  the  poem  it- 
self resembles  the  earlier  one  of  Kaab  bin  Zuhair.  The 
original  title  of  the  later  production  was  "The  Glitter- 
ing Galaxy  of  Stars  in  Praise  of  the  Best  of  God's 
Creatures."  It  consists  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-two 
rhymed  couplets  in  ordinary  Arabic  metre,  full  of  allite- 
rations and  the  play  upon  words  of  which  Orientals  are 
so  fond.  It  gives  a  summary  of  the  chief  events  in 
Mohammed's  life  and  an  abridgment  of  Moslem  beliefs. 
From  its  form  it  can  be  easily  memorized  and,  naturally, 
its  subject  is  one  of  which  the  pious  Moslem  never 
grows  weary.  The  poet  wrote  long  after  tradition  and 
orthodoxy  had  quenched  the  last  spark  of  historical 
criticism  in  the  Mohammedan  world.  If  the  author  had 
read  the  Koran  or  Ibn  Hisham  with  discrimination  he 
would  hardly  have  written: 


MOHAMMED,    THE    PROPHET  5I 

"Vainly  would  men  strive  to  comprehend 
The  excellence  of  his  mental  endowments ! 
Just  as  when  seen  from  far  of  day's  bright  orb 
The  enormous  magnitude  is  not  apparent, 
But  dazzles  and  confounds  the  vision 
Of  him  who  near  beholds  it." 

The  poem  is  really  an  attempt  to  put  Mohammed  on 
a  par  with  Jesus  Christ,  by  attributing  to  him  Christian 
ideas  and  gospel  miracles.    There  is  no  doubt  that  there 
were  Christian  influences  moulding  the   form  and  fur- 
nishing the   substance   of   later    Mohammedan   religious 
literature.      Mohammed's   biography,   as   given  by   later 
writers,  is  a  palpable  plagiarism  and  a  parody  on  the 
life  of  our  Saviour,  as  given  in  the  gospels.^    The  poem 
of  "The  Mantle"  calls  the  Mecca  camel  driver 
"Prince  of  both  of  God's  great  worlds, 
That  of  men  and  that  of  genii. 
Sovereign  likewise  is  he  of  the  two  races, 
Arabians  and  Barbarians. 
He  is  our  prophet,  who  to  us  prescribeth 
What  we  shall  do  and  what  we  shall  avoid. 
Vast  as  the  sea  is  his  generosity, 
His  designs  are  as  large  and  long  as  time." 
Not  only  does  Mohammed  occupy  so  high  a  place  in 
creation,  but  he  is  the  sole  hope  of  the  dying,  and  the 
only  intercessor   on  the  last   day;    altho  this   teaching 
flatly  contradicts  the  Koran.    The  poet  voices  the  great 
need  of  the  Moslem  for  a  Saviour  from  sin  when  he 
bursts  out  with  these  words: 

"O  thou  most  excellent  of  all  created  beings ! 
To  whom  but  thee  can  I  flee  for  refuge 
In  that  moment  so  terrible  to  every  mortal? 
O  Apostle  of  God,  thy  glory  will  not  be  tarnished 
By  whatsoever  aid  thou  mayest  vouchsafe  to  me 
In  that  tremendous  day  wherein  the  Mighty 
Himself  shall  be  manifest  as  the  Avenger." 
^See  S.  W.  Koelle,  "Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism." 


52  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

It  is  natural  that  Mohammed's  chief  miracle,  the 
matchless  Arabic  Koran,  receives  no  small  praise;  in 
this  portion  of  the  poem  there  are  lofty  thoughts  beau- 
tifully expressed,  but  the  metaphors  again  seem  bor- 
rowed from  the  Bible.    The  Moslem  is  told 

.    .     .     "Therein  to  read  to  find  a  refuge  sure 
Safe  from  Hell's  scorching  heat. 
The  refreshing  waters  of  the  Book  divine 
Will  cool  the  ardours  of  the  infernal  pit." 

"As  in  some  lofty  mountain  shines  from  far, 
Amid  the  darkness  of  a  moonless  night, 
A  beacon  lighted  by  some  kindly  hand 
To  lead  the  traveller  to  some  friendly  hearth, 
So  do  these  oracles  irradiate  with  their  beams 
The  gloom  and  darkness  of  a  sinful  world." 

Alas !  that  the  only  true  commentary  on  these  verses 
is  the  gloom  and  darkness  that  still  rest  on  the  sinful 
Moslem  world,  and  which  neither  the  Koran,  with  all  its 
literary  beauty,  nor  Mohammed  has,  in  any  way,  re- 
moved, but  rather  increased.  A  stream  cannot  rise 
higher  than  its  source,  and  this  chapter  has  already 
shown  one  of  the  sources — the  chief  source — of  Islam. 
The  religion  which  Mohammed  founded  bears  every- 
where the  imprint  of  his  life  and  character.  Mohammed 
was  not  only  the  prophet,  but  the  prophecy  of  Islam. 


THE  SPREAD  OF  ISLAM 


"Let  there  be  no  compulsion  in  religion." — The  Koran,  Surah 
2:  257. 

"When  the  holy  months  shall  be  past,  then  slay  the  polytheists 
wherever  ye  find  them,  and  seize  them,  and  besiege  them,  and  lie 
in  ambush  for  them  in  every  ambuscade.  But  if  they  turn  Mos- 
lems, and  rise  to  prayer,  and  give  the  legal-alms,  let  them  alone." 
— The  Koran,  Surah  9:15. 

"Thus,  from  its  very  inception,  Islam  has  been  a  missionary 
religion  both  in  theory  and  practice,  for  the  life  of  Mohammed 
exemplifies  the  same  teaching,  and  the  prophet  himself  stands  at 
the  head  of  a  long  series  of  Moslem  missionaries  who  have  won 
an  entrance  for  their  faith  into  the  hearts  of  unbelievers.  More- 
over, it  is  not  in  the  cruelties  of  the  persecutor  or  the  fury  of 
the  fanatic  that  we  should  look  for  the  evidences  of  the  mission- 
ary spirit  of  Islam  any  more  than  in  the  exploits  of  that  mythi- 
cal personage,  the  Moslem  warrior  with  sword  in  one  hand  and 
the  Koran  in  the  other." — T.  W.  Arnold  in  The  Preaching  of 
Islam. 


Ill 

THE    SPREAD    OF    ISLAM 

Islam  a  Missionary  Religion. — The  great  religions  of 
the  world  may  be  divided  into  two  classes — the  non- 
missionary  and  the  missionary.  Judaism,  Zoroastrian- 
ism,  Hinduism,  for  example,  are  non-missionary,  while 
Buddhism,  Christianity  and  Islam  are  missionary.^  Islam 
was  such  from  its  very  origin.  Altho  not  in  the  Chris- 
tian conception  of  the  word  ''missionary,"  yet  in  zeal  for 
propagating  their  faith,  in  world-wide  missionary  enter- 
prise and  activity,  whether  by  fire  and  sword  or  by  word 
of  preaching,  Islam  affords  a  striking  example  of  how 
the  rank  and  file  in  the  Moslem  army  were  missionaries 
of  the  faith. 

One  hundred  years  after  Mohammed's  death  his  fol- 
lowers were  masters  of  an  empire  greater  than  Rome  at 
the  zenith  of  her  power.  They  were  building  mosques 
in  China,  in  Spain,  in  Persia,  and  in  Southern  India! 
The  extent,  the  rapidity  and  the  method  of  the  early 
Moslem  conquest  are  a  marvellous  illustration  of  their 
fanatic  zeal. 

Two  hundred  years  after  the  Hegira  Mohammed's 
name  was  proclaimed  on  thousands  of  minarets  from 
the  pillars  of  Plercules  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  Northern 

^T.  W.  Arnold,  "The  Preaching  of  Islam,"   i. 

^55 


56  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

Turkestan  to  Ceylon.  Only  thirteen  centuries  have 
passed,  and  to-day  there  are  over  two  hundred  and  thirty 
million  Mohammedans — one-seventh  of  the  population 
of  the  globe!  Fifty-eight  millions  in  Africa,  sixty-two 
millions  in  India,  thirty  millions  in  China,  thirty-five  mil- 
lions in  the  Malay  Archipelago,  and  one-quarter  of  a 
million  in  the  Philippines,  not  to  speak  of  the  lands  that 
are  almost  wholly  Mohammedan  in  Western  Asia.  It  is 
easy  enough  to  say  that  Mohammedanism  was  propa- 
gated by  the  sword.  It  largely  was.  But  we  may  well 
ask,  with  Carlyle  :^  "Where  did  Mohammed  get  his 
sword?"  What  fires  of  faith  and  devotion  must  have 
burned  in  the  hearts  of  the  early  champions  of  Islam,  to 
make  them  gird  the  sword  and  fight  and  die  for  the  new 
religion ! 

It  swept  across  Syria,  Egypt,  Tunis,  Tripoli,  Algiers, 
Morocco,  like  the  desert  simoon — swift,  fierce,  impetuous 
irresistible,  destructive — only  to  be  curbed  and  cooled  by 
the  waves  of  the  Atlantic.  History  tells  of  Akba,  one  of 
their  leaders,  that  he  rode  his  horse  far  out  into  the  surf, 
and  cried :  "Great  God !  if  I  were  not  stopped  by  this 
raging  sea,  I  would  go  on  to  the  nations  of  the  West, 
preaching  the  unity  of  Thy  name  and  putting  to  the 
sword  those  who  would  not  submit."-  Tarik,  finding  no 
lands  to  the  west,  crossed  over  the  straits  into  Spain, 
and  named  its  promontory  Jebel  Tarik  (the  mountain  of 
Tarik),  Gibraltar — an  everlasting  monument  to  his  mis- 
sionary zeal. 

Three  Periods  of  Conquest. — The  spread  of  Islam  may 
be  chronologically  divided  into  three  periods,  and  the 
dates  when  Islam  entered  the  lands  where  it  is  now  pre- 

^Thomas  Carlyle,  in  "Heroes  and  Hero  Worship,"  The  Hero  as  Prophet. 
^Gibbon,  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 


THE   SPREAD   OF   ISLAM  57 

dominant  fall  into  three  groups.  Like  Christianity,  we 
may  say  Islam  has  had  its  apostolic,  medieval  and  mod- 
ern missions.  The  first  period  is  from  the  death  of  Mo- 
hammed, 632  A.  D.  to  800  A.  D. ;  a  later  period,  under 
the  Ottomans  and  Moguls,  1280  A.  D.  to  1480  A.  D. ; 
and  lastly  the  modern  spread  of  Islam,  from  1780  A.  D. 
and  on,  through  the  Wahabi  revival  and  the  Derwish 
movements  in  Africa. 

During  the  first  period,  the  days  of  the  early  caliphs, 
fire  and  sword  carried  Islam  triumphant  throughout  all 
Arabia,  Syria,  Persia,  Egypt,  North  Africa,  and,  by 
more  peaceful  means,  as  far  as  Canton  and  Western 
China.  All  these  regions  had  received  the  faith,  and  it 
had  become  deeply  rooted  before  the  year  1000  A.  D., 
while  Christianity  was  put  under  tribute  and  oppression, 
as  in  Asia  Minor  and  Egypt,  or  entirely  swept  away,  as 
in  Arabia  itself,  by  the  tornado  power  of  the  new  relig- 
ion in  its  political  conquest. 

That  worldly  motives  played  a  considerable  part  in  the 
early  conversion  of  these  lands  cannot  be  doubted,  and 
is  admitted  even  by  Moslem  historians.  When,  for  ex- 
ample, the  Arabs  of  the  pathless  desert,  who  fed  on  ''lo- 
custs and  wild  honey,"  once  tasted  the  delicacies  of  civi- 
lization in  Syria  and  reveled  in  the  luxurious  palaces  of 
the  Khosroes,  they  said :  "By  Allah,  even  if  we  cared  not 
to  fight  for  the  cause  of  God,  yet  we  could  not  but  wish 
to  contend  for  and  enjoy  these,  leaving  distress  and  hun- 
ger henceforth  to  others. "^ 

The  second  chapter  of  Moslem  conquest  began  with 
the  rise  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  and  the  IMoguls  of  India. 
During  this  period  Afghanistan,  Turkestan,  India,  Java 

^The    Moslem    historian,    Et    Tabari,    attributes    these    words    to    Khalid. 
"Al  Kindy,"  85;  C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  53. 


58  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

and  the  Malay  Archipelago,  with  Servia  and  Bosnia  in 
Europe,  were  more  or  less  "converted"  to  Islam. 

Lastly,  we  can  chronicle  the  modern  missionary  efforts 
of  Islam  by  those  apostles  of  fanaticism,  the  Derwish 
orders  in  Africa,  by  the  Oman  Arabs  in  their  slave-raids, 
by  the  disciples  of  the  Cairo  University,  or  by  returning 
Meccan  pilgrims.  Their  work  has  been  chiefly  in  Africa, 
but  also  in  Russia,  the  Malay  Archipelago,  the  Philip- 
pines, and  even  among  the  Finns  of  the  Volga.^ 

Within  the  narrow  limits  of  this  chapter  no  attempt  is 
made  to  give  the  history  of  Moslem  empires  or  dynas- 
ties, nor  the  rise,  decline  and  fall  of  the  early  caliphate; 
but  the  story  of  the  spread  of  the  Moslem  faith  is  told 
in  brief  outline,  following  the  great  geographical  areas 
now  under  its  sway. 

Arabia  and  Syria. — Whatever  may  have  been  the 
method  of  propagating  Islam  in  the  later  centuries,  his- 
tory leaves  no  doubt  that  its  world-conquest  began  with 
the  sword.  Mohammed,  before  his  death,  had  announced, 
as  a  prophecy,  that  ''wars  for  the  spread  of  Islam  would 
never  cease  until  the  anti-Christ  appeared."^  And  just 
before  he  fell  sick  the  prophet  had  given  orders  for  an 
expedition  to  the  Syrian  border.  The  great  commission 
of  the  apostle  of  Islam  was  "to  slay  the  polytheists  wher- 
ever ye  find  them" — and  no  sooner  was  Abu  Bekr  pro- 
claimed Caliph  than  the  faithful  hastened  to  fulfil  the 
command.  The  army  of  invasion  which  was  to  carry  the 
Moslem  standard  into  Syria  was  ordered  to  advance.  El 
Wakidi,  the  historian,  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  purpose  of 
their  errand,  and  of  how  they  executed  it.  He  says: 
"With  the  well-known  cry  of  Ya  Mansur  Umit! — Strike, 

^See  the  synchronological  table  in  T.  W.  Arnold,  "Preaching  of  Islam," 
389;  also  204,  324,  etc. 
=Sir  William  Muir,   "Life  of  Mahomet,"  "Vol.   IV,  204. 


THE    SPREAD   OF    ISLAM  59 

O  ye  conquerors ! — they  slew  all  who  opposed  them,  and 
carried  off  the  remainder  into  captivity.  They  burned 
the  villages,  the  fields  of  standing  corn,  and  the  groves 
of  palm,  and  behind  them  there  went  up,  as  it  were,  a 
whirlwind  of  fire  and  smoke. "^  Abu  Bekr,  in  his  address 
to  the  people,  emphasized  the  fact,  as  well  he  might,  that 
the  very  existence  of  the  new  religion  now  depended  on 
aggressive  warfare.  ''When  a  people  leaveth  off  to  fight 
in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,"  said  he,  ''the  Lord  also  casteth 
off  that  people."  But  Islam  had  so  little  real  grip  on  the 
Arabs  themselves  that,  on  Mohammed's  death,  the 
Bedouin  tribes,  with  one  accord,  fell  away  from  Islam 
and  all  the  prophet's  work  in  Arabia  had  to  be  done  over 
again.  Medina  and  Mecca  alone  remained  true  to  their 
faith.2 

Al  Kindi,  in  his  apology,  states  that  the  Arab  tribes 
started  aside,  like  a  broken  bow,  and  were  only  brought 
back  gradually  to  hold  fast  to  Islam  by  one  inducement 
or  another,  "by  kindly  treatment,  persuasion  and  craft, 
by  fear  and  the  terror  of  the  sword,  by  the  prospect  of 
power  and  wealth,  and  by  the  lusts  and  pleasures  of  this 
life."2 

When  Osama  had  returned  victorious  from  the  Syrian 
conquest  eleven  diff"erent  expeditions  were  sent  by  Abu 
Bekr  against  the  apostate  tribes  throughout  Arabia. 
Muir  observes  that  but  for  the  simple  faith  and  energy 
of  Abu  Bekr  himself  "Islam  would  have  melted  away  in 
compromise  with  the  Bedouin  tribes,  or,  likelier  still,  have 
perished  in  the  throes  if  its  birth."'*  It  took  over  a  year 
of  hard  fighting  against  obstinate  resistance  to  "convert" 

i"Kitab  el  Wakidi,"   139;  Muir,  IV,  298. 

^C.   R.   Haines,   "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  52. 

3"A1  Kindy,"  135,  quoted  in  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  52. 

*Sir  William  Muir,  "The  Caliphate;  Its  Rise,  Decline  and  Fall,"   14. 


6o  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

the  Arabs  of  the  Peninsula,  altho  they  have  ever  since 
been  true  to  Islam.  Khalid,  the  Sword  of  Allah,  was 
sent  out  against  the  rebel  prophets,  Toleiha  and  Mosei- 
lama.  The  first  battle  was  with  Toleiha,  and  the  armies 
met  at  Bozakha.  Victory  came  to  the  Moslems  after  a 
hard-fought  field.  The  expedition  against  the  Bni  Te- 
mim,  who  occupied  the  plateau  near  the  Persian  Gulf, 
was  also  successful,  and  in  the  bloody  battle  of  "the 
Garden  of  Death"  Khalid  overcame  the  forces  of  Mosei- 
lama.  The  Moslems  lost  twelve  hundred  men  in  the  hand- 
to-hand  slaughter,  but  Khalid,  a  true  son  of  Islam,  sig- 
nalized his  victory  by  wedding  a  captive  maid  on  the  field 
of  battle.  When  Abu  Bekr  heard  of  it,  he  wrote  him  a 
letter  sprinkled  with  blood:  *'By  my  life!  thou  art  a 
pretty  fellow,  living  thus  at  thine  ease.  Thou  weddest  a 
damsel  while  the  ground  beneath  the  nuptial  couch  is 
yet  moistened  with  the  blood  of  twelve  hundred."^  Such 
were  the  early  missionaries  of  Islam. 

While  Khalid  was  busy  in  Northern  and  Central  Ara- 
bia, other  similar  campaigns  were  in  progress  in  Bahrein 
and  Oman.  In  the  spring  of  633  A.  D.,  Yemen  was  sub- 
dued, and  finally  Hadramaut  also  submitted  to  the  rule 
of  the  caliph  and  the  religion  of  the  prophet.  In  634 
the  victorious  Moslems,  under  Khalid,  took  Damascus. 
In  636  they  utterly  defeated  the  Persians  at  Kadesia,  and 
the  same  year  drove  Heraclius  out  of  Syria.  Jerusalem 
fell  the  next  year,  and  the  conquest  of  Syria  was  then 
completed.  Chaldea  also  was  subdued  by  Khalid  after 
the  fashion  of  all  these  early  and  haughty  champions  of 
the  faith. 

To  Hormuz,  the  satrap  of  the  fertile  delta  region,  Kha- 
lid wrote:  "Accept  the  faith,  and  thou  art  safe;  else  pay 

^Sir  William  Muir,  "The  Caliphate;  Its  Rise,  Decline  and  Fall." 


THE    SPREAD   OF    ISLAM  6l 

tribute,  thou  and  thy  people ;  which,  if  thou  refusest,  thou 
shalt  have  thyself  to  blame.  A  people  is  already  on  thee, 
loving  death,  even  as  thou  lovest  life."  He  refused  to 
submit,  and  in  the  Battle  of  the  Chains  another  province 
was  added  to  the  Arab  dominions.  Mohammed  himself 
had  so  completely  confused  the  functions  of  prophet  and 
politician,  warrior  and  preacher,  that  it  is  not  surprising 
his  successors  knew  no  distinction  between  the  word  of 
Allah  and  the  sword  of  Allah  in  the  propagating  of  their 
faith.  Yet  the  most  remarkable  fact  in  the  spread  of 
Islam  is  that  political  sway  was  not  altogether  synony- 
mous with  religious  conversion.  When  Islam  triumphed 
in  Asia  Minor,  Christianity  was  dominant  among  the 
peoples  speaking  Greek,  Armenian  and  Syriac,  and  these 
peoples,  after  twelve  centuries  of  contact  and  conflict 
with  Islam,  are  still  Christian.  The  spread  of  Islam  was 
not  wholly  a  triumph.  The  victory  more  than  once  re- 
mained to  the  vanquished,  and  Islam  often  failed  to  win 
allegiance  where  it  won  subjection.  Dr.  William  A. 
Shedd,  in  writing  of  this,  says:  "We  are,  perhaps,  apt 
to  forget  this  failure  of  Islam,  the  failure  to  attract  and 
convert  peoples  who  have  lived  for  twelve  and  a  half 
centuries  under  Moslem  rule,  accessible  to  the  efforts  of 
Mohammedan  teachers,  with  material  gain  on  the  side 
of  Islam :  and  yet  to-day  they  are  more  averse  to  Islam 
than  ever.  It  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  any  similar 
failure  of  Christianity  in  its  whole  history."^ 

Africa. — The  spread  of  Islam  in  Africa  began  in  638 
A.  D.  and  still  continues.  Bonet-Maury  points  out  that 
there  were  three  periods  in  the  conflict  for  Africa.  In 
the  first,  638-1050  A.  D.,  the  Arabs,  by  rapid  military 
conquest,  overran  the  Mediterranean  littoral  from  Egypt 

^W.  A.  Shedd,  "Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches,"  150. 


62  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

to  Morocco,  where  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  Berbers 
and  especially  discord  among  the  Moslem  rulers  pre- 
vented wider  conquest  until  the  tenth  century.  During 
the  second  period,  from  1050-1750,  Morocco,  the  Sahara 
region,  and  the  Western  Soudan  became  Moslem,  and 
the  desire  for  conquest  was,  no  doubt,  provoked,  in  part, 
as  a  reaction  against  the  Christian  crusades.  The  third 
period,  1750- 1900,  was  that  of  the  revival  of  Islam  and 
its  spread  through  the  Mahdi  movement  and  the  Derwish 
orders."^ 

While  Khalid  carried  the  Moslem  banner  to  victory  in 
Syria  and  Western  Persia,  Amru-ibn-el-As,  with  equal 
furor,  invaded  Egypt.  Within  two  years  (640  A.  D.) 
Alexandria  was  taken,  and  Egypt  became  a  dependency, 
like  Syria  and  Chaldea.  In  647  the  armies  moved  west- 
ward, and  within  thirty  years  the  victorious  Moslems  had 
reached  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  were  preparing  to  cross 
over  into  Spain.  It  is  impossible  to  give  here,  even  in 
summary,  the  story  of  these  campaigns.  The  political  vic- 
tory was  often  an  easy  one,  because  the  Christians  were 
divided.  In  Egypt  one  party,  the  Copts,  welcomed  the 
Mohammedan  invaders  as  a  means  of  deliverance  from 
the  orthodox  Christian  Miikawkas.  However,  they  soon 
had  abundant  reason  to  regret  it,^  and  the  religious  vic- 
tory of  Islam  was  only  partial,  for  there  are  still  to-day 
in  Egypt  600,000  Copts. 

Abdullah  invaded  Tripoli  in  647  A.  D. ;  Akba  pene- 
trated to  Mauritania  in  6yy  A.  D. ;  yet  their  bloody  vic- 
tories were  largely  valueless  to  Islam,  because  Christian 
civilization  fought  for  its  very  life.     It  was  not  until 


^G.  Bonet-Maury,  "L'Islamisme  et  Le  Christianisme  en  Afrique"   (Paris, 
1906),  67,  68;  226-249. 
^Dr.  A.  Watson,  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  23. 


w        o  ,     tn 


Ap 


Z      5  o  i> 


..   i 


"h  -  ^ 


^  •■"  o  r; 


C    -J    &1 


THE    SPREAD   OF    ISLAM  6^ 

754  A.  D.  that,  by  the  conversion  of  the  Christian  "in- 
fidels," tribute  was  abohshed.^  Ibn  Khaldun,  the  Mos- 
lem historian,  states  that  those  formerly  Christians  apos- 
tatized from  Islam  fourteen  times.^ 

The  Arabs,  in  their  later  efforts  at  "conversion," 
whether  for  trade,  conquest  or  slave-raids,  entered  Africa 
from  three  different  sides.  These  three  streams  of  Mos- 
lem immigration  and  conquest  were  as  follows:  From 
Egypt  they  went  westward  as  far  as  Lake  Chad;  from 
the  northwest  of  Africa  they  came  down  to  Lake  Chad 
and  the  Niger  region;  and  from  Zanzibar  the  slave- 
dealers  opened  the  way  for  Islam  as  far  as  the  Great 
Lakes. 

As  early  as  the  year  740  A.  D.  an  Arab  immigration 
brought  Islam  to  Abyssinia,  but  the  Swaheli  tribes  were 
not  converted  until  1700  by  the  Oman  traders  of  Zanzi- 
bar. The  period  of  the  greatest  Arab  immigration  was 
that  following  the  Crusades  and,  therefore,  the  mission- 
ary expansion  of  Islam  in  North  Central  Africa  falls  be- 
tween the  years  1095  ^.nd  1300.  Islam  crossed  the  Sa- 
hara about  the  year  1200.^  Its  progress  was  slow,  but 
irresistible. 

In  1775  Othman,  a  Fulah  of  Gober,  made  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  became  imbued  with  the  Wahabi  desire 
for  reform  and  conquest,  returned  and,  transforming 
herdsmen  into  warriors,  built  up  a  strong  Moslem  em- 
pire at  Sokoto.  His  power  extended  from  the  Atlantic 
to  Lake  Chad,  and  from  the  Binwe  river  to  the  Sahara.* 
From  1835  to  1853  Mohammed  Othman  of  Mecca  was 
a  zealous  propagandist  of  Islam  in  Kordo  and  Senaar, 
where  many  tribes  were  still  pagan,  and  the  order  of 

*T,  \V.  Arnold,  "Preaching  of  Islam,"  103-111;  F.  P.  Noble,  "Redemption 
of  Africa,"  Vol.  I,  47.  ^jbid,  Vol.   I,  49.  ''Ibid,  Vol.  I,  49. 

*Ibid,  Vol.   I,  53.     Arnold,  "Preaching  of  Islam,"  265-268. 


64  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

Derwishes  he  founded  still  carries  on  his  work.  In  West 
Africa  the  Kadiriya  and  Tijani  orders  have  been  active 
propagandists  as  traders  and  missionaries.  From  1832 
to  1847  Abd  ul  Kader,  poet  and  statesman,  and  a  devout 
Algerian  Moslem,  strove  to  recall  the  Arabs  of  North 
Africa  to  the  duty  of  preaching  Islam,  and  a  little  later 
the  Mahdist  movement  in  the  Egyptian  Soudan  extended 
the  faith  with  fire  and  sword  against  the  ''infidels"  and 
lukewarm  believers. 

But  the  latest  and  strongest  Moslem  missionary  force 
in  Africa  is  that  of  the  Senusi  brotherhood,  the  Jesuits 
of  Islam.  Of  their  rise,  power  and  progress  there  are 
many  and  often  conflicting  accounts.^  Noble  gives  the 
following  summary: 

"In  1843  Senusi,  an  Algerian  sheikh,  driven  from  Mec- 
ca on  account  of  his  pure  life  and  principles,  took  refuge 
temporarily  at  Benghazi,  on  the  Barkan  coast.  After 
founding  military  monasteries  here,  his  order  having 
arisen  in  1837,  he  withdrew  (1855)  to  Jarabub.  .  .  . 
Altho  within  the  western  boundary  of  Egypt,  and  only 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  Mediterranean,  it 
lies  on  a  borderland  of  the  Libyan  plateau,  where  no 
Egyptian  khedive,  no  Turkish  sultan  exercises  authority. 
Here  is  the  true  head  of  modern  Islam's  hostile  move- 
ment against  the  giaour  or  infidel.  It  became  such  partly 
through  its  almost  central  position  for  African  propa- 
ganda and  through  remoteness  from  European  interfer- 
ence, but  chiefly  from  Wahabi  fanaticism  and  reaction. 
Senusi  and,  since  1859,  his  son  developed  their  projects 

'Compare,  for  example,  the  account  of  G.  Bonet-Maury  in  his  "L'lslam- 
isme  et  Le  Christianisme  en  Afrique"  with  the  interesting  story  of 
Arthur  Silva  White,  "From  Sphinx  to  Oracle;  Through  the  Libyan  Desert 
to  the  Oasis  of  Jupiter  Ammon"  (London,  1899).  The  book  gives  an  ac- 
count of  his  visit  to  the  Senusi  centre  Siwa,  near  Jarabub,  their  capital. 
Other  writers  on  the  subject  are  Duveyrier  and   Kinn. 


THE   SPREAD   OF   ISLAM  65 

in  secrecy.  The  sheikh  is  the  undisputed  head  of  the 
sect,  bhndly  obeyed  by  the  monastic  orders  of  the  Mos- 
lem world.  The  brethren  are  all  in  his  hands  as  the 
corpse  in  those  of  the  undertaker.  The  Senusi  brother- 
hood is  the  Jesuit  order  of  Islam.  The  monks  regard  the 
Senusi  sheikh  as  the  well-guided  one,  the  true  Mahdi  to 
restore  the  Moslem  power.  Outwardly  the  Senusiya  pro- 
fess to  aspire  to  no  political  aim.  Their  ideal  goal  con- 
sists in  the  federation  of  the  orthodox  religious  orders 
into  one  theocratic  body,  independent  of  secular  author- 
ity. They  discountenance  violence.  To  Mohammedans 
in  districts  under  Christian  sway  they  recommend  not  re- 
volt, but  withdrawal  to  Senusi  convents.  None  the  less, 
despite  this  ostensible  condemnation  of  political  agita- 
tion, the  Senusiya  aim  at  absolute  independence.  Their 
houses,  at  once  church  and  school,  arsenal  and  hospital, 
are  found  in  the  Libyan  oases,  Fezzan,  Tripoli  and  Al- 
geria, in  Senegambia,  the  Soudan  and  Somalia."^ 

Europe. — Islam  entered  Europe  very  early.  In  648 
the  Arabs  crossed  into  Spain;  in  711  they  established 
their  rule,  and  they  and  their  descendants  remained  there 
for  eight  centuries  until,  in  1502,  an  edict  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  forbade  the  exercise  of  the  Mohammedan  re- 
ligion. Cyprus  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens  in  648, 
Rhodes  five  years  later,  while  Constantinople  itself  was 
fruitlessly  besieged  in  668  and  again  in  716.  Sixteen 
years  later  the  battle  of  Tours  set  a  limit  to  the  Saracen 
conquests  in  Western  Europe.  However,  in  823,  Crete 
became  Moslem,  and  Sicily  in  878,  while  in  846  Rome 
was  partially  sacked  by  the  Arabs  and  only  saved  by 
the  bravery  of  Leo  the  Fourth.-     In  spite  of  their  failure 

^F.  P.  Noble,  "Redemption  of  Africa,"  Vol.  I,  54,  55.  Compare  also  Bonet- 
Maury,    "L'Islamisme,"    245-263. 
*C.   R.    Haines,   "Islam  as  a   Missionary   Religion,"  58. 


66  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO   FAITH 

to  take  Rome,  the  Moslems  gained  a  foothold  in  South- 
ern Italy,  and  were  not  driven  out  until  1058. 

At  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  Islam  again  at- 
tempted the  conquest  of  Europe  under  the  Ottoman 
Turks.  *'By  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  they 
had  made  good  their  footing  in  Europe.  Thrace,  Bul- 
garia, Wallachia,  Servia  were  rapidly  and  thoroughly 
conquered.,  and  by  the  end  of  the  century  Greece  had  be- 
come a  Turkish  province,  and  in  1453  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople sealed  the  doom  of  the  Eastern  Empire.  Sev- 
enty-six years  later  the  unsuccessful  siege  of  Vienna 
formed  the  high-water  mark  of  Moslem  conquest  in  that 
direction."^  From  that  day  until  now  Turkish  rule  and 
the  Moslem  faith  have  lost  power  in  Europe.  At  pres- 
ent, while  there  are  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  million 
Moslems  in  Asia  and  nearly  sixty  millions  in  Africa, 
there  are  only  five  millions  in  Europe.  Perhaps  there  is 
a  physical  reason  for  the  limit  of  Moslem  conquest  to- 
ward the  North.  In  the  lands  of  ice  and  snow  and  short- 
ened nights  and  days,  the  prayer-ritual  is  well-nigh  im- 
possible, and  the  fast  becomes  a  crushing  yoke.-  Gibbon 
tells  us  that  the  Tartars  of  Azoph  and  Astrakhan  used 
to  object  to  the  prayer-ritual,  because  it  was  impossible 
in  their  latitude,  and  tried,  therefore,  to  dissuade  the 
Turks  from  attempting  further  conquest  in  that  direc- 
tion.^ 

*C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  126. 

'Ibn  Batuta,  who  went  to  Bulgai",  a  city  in  Siberia,  to  witness  the  short 
nights,  says:  "When  I  was  saying  the  prayer  of  sunset  in  that  place, 
which  happened  in  the  month  of  Ramadhan,  I  hasted;  nevertheless,  the 
time  of  evening  prayer  came  on.  This  hastily  repeated,  I  prayed  the  mid- 
night prayer  and  the  one  termed  El  Witr,  but  was  overtaken  by  the 
dawn!"— Haines,   "Islam,"  59. 

^Gibbon,  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  viii,  48.  For  a 
more  detailed  and  interesting,  although  a  one-sided  account  of  the  spread 
pf  Islam  during  the  period  of   Ottoman   supremacy   among  the   Christian 


THE    SPREAD    OF    ISLAM  67 

Persia  and  Central  Asia. — The  entrance  of  Islam  into 
Persia  began  with  the  Saracen  invasion  under  KhaUd, 
and  was  completed  during  the  caliphate  of  Omar.  At 
the  bloody  battle  of  Nehavend,  642  A.  D.,  when  thirty 
thousand  Persian  dead  were  left  on  the  field,  and  eighty 
thousand  refugees  slain,  the  fate  of  Persia  was  decided.^ 
Then,  one  after  another,  the  various  provinces  were  con- 
quered— Fars,  Kerman,  Makran,  Sejestan,  Khorasan, 
Azerbijan — and  converted  to  Islam.  ''But  the  people 
would,  ever  and  anon,  rise  again  in  rebellion,  and  it  was 
long  before  the  invaders  could  subside  into  a  settled  life, 
or  feel  secure  away  from  the  protection  of  settled  garri- 
sons. But  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  professors  of  the 
faith  were  so  great  that  the  adherents  of  Zoroastrian  wor- 
ship were  not  long  able  to  resist  the  attraction ;  by  de- 
grees the  Persian  race  came  over,  in  name  at  least,  to 
the  dominant  creed  and,  in  the  end,  opposition  ceased. 
The  notices  of  Zoroastrian  families  and  of  Fire  temples 
destroyed  in  after  reigns  show  indeed  that  in  many  quar- 
ters the  conversion  was  slow  and  partial."^  Yet  it  was 
sure  and  certain.  The  conquest  of  Persia  was  of  the 
greatest  significance  for  the  future  of  Islam.  Here  for 
many  centuries  Mohammedan  literature  had  its  greatest 
impulse  and  glory,  while  the  Aryan  mind  contributed  to 
the  Semitic  faith  poetry,  philosophy  and  science.  But 
Persia  also  became  the  mother  of  heresies  and  schisms, 
as  we  shall  see  later,  and  so  was  a  source  of  weakness 
to  Islam. 

nations  in  Europe,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Arnold,  "The  Preaching  of 
Islam,"  Chapter  VI. 

^Sir  William  Muir,  "The  Caliphate;  Its  Rise,   Decline  and  Fall,"   179. 

^Ibid,  181.  Contrast  with  the  historical  facts  in  Muir  the  account  given 
by  Arnold  and  his  remark:  "That  this  widespread  conversion  was  not  due 
to  force  or  violence  is  evidenced  by  the  toleration  extended  to  those  who 
still  cling  to  their  ancestral  faith,"   179.     The  italics  are  mine. 


68  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

From  Persia  Islam  spread  to  Central  Asia.  As  early 
as  666  A.  D.  it  had  reached  Balk,  and  in  672  the  Sara- 
cens attacked  Bokhara.  The  conquest  was  not  an  easy 
one,  and  the  invaders  were  repulsed.  In  704  Kuteiba,  the 
Arab  conqueror,  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  is  said  to 
have  advanced  even  as  far  as  Turfan,  on  the  extreme 
border  of  Eastern  Turkestan,  imposing  Islam  as  he 
went.^  We  read  that  Bokhara  was  conquered  and  "con- 
verted" three  times,  only  to  revolt  and  relapse  until  the 
strongest  measures  were  taken  to  establish  the  new  re- 
ligion. Every  Bokharist,  Vambery  tells  us,  had  to  share 
his  dwelling  with  a  Moslem  Arab,  and  those  who  prayed 
and  fasted,  like  good  Moslems,  were  rewarded  with 
money .^  Finally  the  city  was  wholly  given  over  to  the 
Arabs,  and  a  little  later  Samarkand  experienced  the  same 
fate.  From  Bokhara  as  a  centre,  Islam  spread  gradually 
by  coercion  or  persuasion,  by  preaching  or  by  the  sword, 
in  all  directions  throughout  Afghanistan,  Turkestan  and 
Chinese  Tartary  for  a  period  of  two  hundred  years. 
When  Marco  Polo  crossed  these  countries  (1271-1294) 
he  found  Islam  nearly  everywhere  dominant.^  But  as 
late  as  the  fifteenth  century  an  Arab  of  Damascus  was 
a  preacher  of  Islam  to  the  pagan  tribes  of  Tunganis  who 
lived  between  Ilia  and  Khamil.  He  was  brought  as  a 
prisoner-of-war  by  Timur,  and  was  so  zealous  for  the 
faith  that  thousands  were  converted.*  Sometimes,  also, 
Islam  was  spread  by  the  influence  or  example  of  kings 
and  princes  who  became  Moslems  and  set  the  fashion 
for  their  court  and  their  subjects.  So  Togoudar  Ogoul, 
when  he  ascended  the  throne  of  Turkestan,  renounced 

*P.  D'Abry  de  Thiersant,  "La  Mahometisme  en  Chine,"  Vol.   I,  257. 

^A.  Vambery,  "Bokhara"   (1873),   26. 

^C.    R.   Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary   Religion,"  86. 

<De  Thiersant,  Vol.  I,  163.     Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  86. 


THE   SPREAD   OF   ISLAM  69 

Christianity  and  became  a  Moslem,  his  subjects  follow- 
ing his  example/  Another  example  of  this  method  in 
the  spread  of  Islam  is  that  of  Taliclava,  the  ruler  of 
Transoxiana,  in  the  early  years  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury.- At  present  all  of  Persia  and  Central  Asia,  as  well 
as  a  large  part  of  Asiatic  Russia,  is  Mohammedan.  ''In 
the  Trans-Caucasus  between  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas 
are  three  million  Tartars.  In  Turkestan,  Bokhara,  Khiva 
and  Russian  Turkestan  together  are  about  six  millions. 
The  capital  city  of  Bokhara,  which  is  a  state  vassal  to 
Russia,  is  a  stronghold  at  present  for  the  spiritual  power 
of  Islam  in  Central  Asia."^ 

China. — This  land  affords  a  striking  example  of  a 
peaceful  propaganda  by  Moslem  preachers  and  mer- 
chants in  distinction  from  the  usual  method  of  the  mili- 
tary crusade.  For  centuries  preceding  Islam  there  had 
been  commercial  intercourse  by  sea  between  Arabia  and 
China,*  and  when  the  Arab  merchants,  the  Sinbads  of 
history,  became  Moslems,  it  was  only  natural  that  they 
carried  their  religion  with  them  on  their  long  voyages 
for  silk,  spices,  and  gold.  We  read  that  Mohammed 
utilized  these  early  trade-routes  in  the  sixth  year  of  the 
Hegira  by  sending  his  maternal  uncle,  Wahab  bin  Kabsha, 
with  a  letter  and  suitable  presents  to  the  Emperor  of 
China,  asking  him  to  accept  the  new  religion.  Arriving 
at  Canton  the  next  year,  he  went  to  the  capital  and 
preached  Islam  for  two  years.  His  preaching,  which  is 
mentioned  in  an  inscription  on  the  mosque  at  Canton, 
produced  considerable  and  permanent  results,  for  there 
are  over  eight  hundred  Moslem  families  in  Canton  to- 

^Dozy,  "L'IsIamisme,"  400. 

-A.  Vambery,   "Bokhara,"   161. 

2"The   Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  243. 

^Niemann,  "Inleiding  tot  de  Kennis  van  den  Islam,"  337. 


70  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

day.^  When  Abu  Kabsha  returned,  he  found  the  prophet 
had  died,  but,  after  Abu  Bekr  had  pubHshed  the  Koran, 
the  venerable  apostle  of  Islam  returned  to  China  with 
a  copy  and  remained  there  till  his  death.  His  tomb  is 
still  held  in  honor  by  Chinese  Moslems.^ 

The  first  body  of  Arab  settlers  in  China  was  a  contin- 
gent of  four  thousand  soldiers  dispatched  by  the  Caliph 
Abu  Jaafer,  in  755  (or,  according  to  others,  by  the  Ca- 
liph Al  Mansur  in  758),  to  the  assistance  of  the  Emperor 
Hsuan-Tsung,  who  was  assailed  by  his  commander,  A 
Lo  Shan,  a  Tartar,  appointed  to  lead  an  army  against  the 
northwest  frontier.-^  These  soldiers,  in  reward  for  their 
services  and  bravery,  were  allowed  to  settle  in  China, 
where,  by  intermarriage  and  preaching,  they  won  over 
many  to  the  faith.  In  the  following  century  we  read 
that  many  thousands  of  Moslems  were  massacred  in 
China,  while  Marco  Polo  speaks  of  the  large  Moslem 
population  of  Yunnan. 

Following  upon  the  great  wars  of  Ghengis  Khan  a 
vast  number  of  Moslem  traders  and  adventurers  poured 
into  Western  China.  "Some  came  as  merchants,  artisans, 
soldiers  and  colonists ;  others  were  brought  in  as  prison- 
ers-of-war.  A  great  number  of  them  settled  in  the  coun- 
try and  developed  into  a  populous  and  flourishing  com- 
munity, gradually  losing  their  racial  peculiarities  by  their 
marriage  with  Chinese  women."* 

Regarding  the  present  growth  of  Islam  in  China  and 
the  total  number  of  Moslems  in  the  empire,  there  is  the 

ip.  D'Abry  de  Thiersant,  Vol.  I,  31.  ff.  C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Mis- 
sionary Religion,"  82. 

^For  further  particulars  see  E.  M.  Wherry,  "Islam  and  Christianity  in 
India  and  the  Far  East,"  74-84. 

ST.  W.  Arnold.  "Preaching  of  Islam,"  251;  "The  Mohammedan  World  of 
To-day,"  252,  253. 

*Ibid,  247. 


1XTERI(;K    (JF    A    MDIIA.M.MEDAX    MUSOUE    IX    CHINA 

The    worshipper    is    kneeling    toward    Mecca,    and    above    his    head    is    an 
Arabic  inscription  from  the   Koran 


THE    SPREAD   OF    ISLAM  *J\ 

greatest  disagreement  among  writers.  In  1889  Dr.  Hap- 
per,  of  Canton,  thought  the  numbers  given  by  De  Thier- 
sant  very  excessive,  and  estimated  the  total  Moslem  popu- 
lation at  not  more  than  three  millions.  De  Thiersant, 
who  secured  his  data  from  Chinese  officials,  put  it  at 
twenty  millions.  A.  H.  Keane,  in  his  geography  of  Asia, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  *' Statesmen's  Year  Book," 
one  of  the  best  authorities  on  statistics,  says  that  China., 
has  thirty  million  Mohammedans,  while  an  Indian  writer, 
Surat  Chandra  Das,  CLE.,  in  the  Journal  of  the  Asi- 
atic Society,  estimates  it  at  fifty  millions;  and  Saiyad 
Sulayman,  a  prominent  Moslem  officer  in  Yunnan  prov- 
ince, states  that  there  are  now  seventy  million  Moslems 
in  China!  The  total  given  by  the  Rev.  W.  Gilbert 
Walshe,  in  his  paper  for  the  Cairo  Conference  in  1906, 
was  twenty  millions.^ 

Some  missionaries  are  not  at  all  apprehensive  of  Islam 
in  China,  and  look  upon  this  faith  as  a  negligible  factor 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  empire.  But  those  who  have 
studied  its  progress  in  the  past  may  well  ponder  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  its  methods,  as  given  by  Arnold  in 
his  interesting  chapter:  "In  the  towns,  the  Moham- 
medans tend,  little  by  little,  to  form  separate  Moham- 
medan quarters,  and  finally  do  not  allow  any  person  to 
dwell  among  them  who  does  not  go  to  the  mosque. 
Islam  has  also  gained  ground  in  China,  because  of  the 
prompitude  with  which  the  Mohammedans  have  repeo- 
pled  provinces  devastated  by  the  various  scourges  so 
familiar  to  China.  In  times  of  famine  they  purchase 
children  from  poor  parents,  bring  them  up  in  the  faith 
of  Islam  and,  when  they  are  full-grown,  provide  them 

^E.  M.   Wherry,  "Islam  and  Christianity  in  India  and  the  Far  East,"  80 
and  82;   "The  Mohammedan   World  of  To-day,"  258,  259. 
T.  W.  Arnold,  "Preaching  of  Islam,"  257,  258. 


y2  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

with  wives  and  houses,  often  forming  whole  villages  of 
these  new  converts.  In  the  famine  that  devastated  the 
province  of  Kwangtung,  in  1790,  as  many  as  ten  thou- 
sand children  are  said  to  have  been  purchased  in  this 
way  from  parents  who,  too  poor  to  support  them,  were 
compelled  by  necessity  to  part  with  their  starving  little 
ones.  Saiyad  Sulayman  says  that  the  number  of  acces- 
sions to  Islam  gained  in  this  way  every  year  is  beyond 
counting.  Every  effort  is  made  to  keep  the  faith  alive 
among  the  new  converts,  even  the  humblest  being  taught, 
by  means  of  metrical  primers,  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Islam.  To  the  influence  of  the  religious  books  of  the 
Chinese  Moslems,  Saiyad  Sulayman  attributes  many 
of  the  conversions  that  are  made  at  the  present  day. 
They  have  no  organized  propaganda,  yet  the  zealous 
spirit  of  proselytism  with  which  the  Chinese  Mussul- 
mans are  animated  secures  for  them  a  constant  suc- 
cession of  new  converts,  and  they  confidently  look 
forward  to  the  day  when  Islam  will  be  triumphant 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Chinese 
Empire."^ 

India. — Here  Islam  has  won  a  larger  field  and  a 
greater  number  of  adherents  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world.  India  to-day  has  a  larger  Moslem  popula- 
tion than  that  of  Persia,  Arabia,  the  Turkish  Empire  and 
Egypt  combined. 

The  spread  of  Islam  in  India  began  with  the  sword, 
and  Haines  declares:  "The  Arabs  showed  more  clearly 
in  India  than  anywhere  else  that  their  object  was  not 
so  much  the  conversion  of  idolaters  and  poly- 
theists  as  the  plunder  of  temples  and  the  enlargement 
of   the    Moslem   Empire.    We   may   search   the   record 

IT.  W.  Arnold,  "The  Preaching  of  Islam,"  257. 


THE   SPREAD   OF   ISLAM  73 

of  bloodshed  and  spoliation  in  vain  for  any  trace 
of  a  purely  missionary  effort  to  win  over  converts  to 
Islam.  "^ 

While  no  less  an  authority  than  Lyall  states  that  ''the 
military  adventurers  who  founded  dynasties  in  North 
India  and  carved  out  kingdoms  in  the  Deccan  cared  lit- 
tle for  things  spiritual;  most  of  them  had,  indeed,  no 
time  for  proselytizing,  being  continually  engaged  in  con- 
quest and  civil  war."- 

The  condition  of  the  country  was  favorable  to  the 
Saracen  invaders,  as  Dr.  Wherry  shows  in  his  scholarly 
chapter  on  the  Moslem  conquest  of  India.^  And  the 
Arabs  were  not  slow  to  learn  the  facts.  As  early  as  712 
the  Caliph  Walid  sent  an  army  to  avenge  an  outrage 
on  an  Arab  vessel.*  Kasim,  the  Arab  general,  offered 
the  Rajputs  the  alternative — Islam  or  tribute — and,  hav- 
ing defeated  them,  he  forcibly  circumcised  a  number  of 
Brahmans.  This  having  failed  to  convert  the  people,  he 
slew  all  males  over  seventeen  years  old  and  enslaved  the 
rest.'^  Al  Hajaj,  the  governor  of  Chaldea,  sent  an  ex- 
pedition to  Daibul,  the  port  of  Sind,  in  711.  Two  fierce 
battles  were  fought  by  the  army  on  its  way  up  the  In- 
dus, and  Multan  surrendered  after  a  long  siege.  It  was 
a  victory  of  the  sword.  According  to  authorities,  quoted 
by  Dr.  Wherry,  three  days  of  carnage  followed  the  cap- 
ture of  Daibul.  At  Dahir  "the  Moslems  were  glutted 
with  slaughter."  So  cruel  were  the  conquerors  that  the 
Hindu  king's  sister  called  the  women  together  and,  "re- 
fusing to  owe  their  lives  to  the  vile  'cow-eaters,'  at  the 

^C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  89. 

2"Asiatic  Studies,"  Vol.  X,  289. 

8E.    M.    Wherry,    "Islam    and    Christianity    in    India   and    the    Far   East," 

17-45. 
*William   Hunter,   "Indian   Empire,"  213. 
^C.   R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  88,  89. 


74  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

price  of  dishonor,  they  set  their  house  ablaze  and  per- 
ished in  the  flames." 

''This  contempt  for  the  lives  of  the  rebellious  or  van- 
quished was  exemplified  over  and  over  in  the  history  of 
Islam  in  India.  The  slave  emperor,  Balban,  once  slew 
forty  thousand  Mongols,  whom  he  suspected  of  disloy- 
alty, notwithstanding  that  they  had  professed  the  Mos- 
lem religion.  Timur  (Tamerlane)  felt  encumbered  by 
one  hundred  thousand  Hindu  prisoners  taken  at  the  cap- 
ture of  Delhi.  He  ordered  them  to  be  slain  in  cold 
blood.  The  Bahmanid  Mohammed  I,  son  of  Hassan 
Gangu,  once  avenged  the  death  of  his  Moslem  garrison 
at  Mudkal  by  the  slaughter  of  seventy  thousand  men, 
women  and  children.  Such  were  the  deeds  of  the  prose- 
lyting sword,  which  was  unsheathed  against  the  unbe- 
lieving world  by  the  mandate  of  the  prophet."^ 

The  conquest  of  Sindh  by  the  Arabs  was  only  a  be- 
ginning for  the  later  conquest  of  India  by  the  Moslems. 
In  Sindh  they  gained  a  foothold  and  learned  of  the  fabu- 
lous wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  unbelievers.  Moreover, 
these  converted  Hindus  were  allies  of  the  army  of  con- 
quest in  the  tenth  century,  when  Turks  and  Afghans 
poured  into  India  from  the  northwest. 

The  Sultan  of  Ghazni,  Mahmud,  surnamed  "the  Idol- 
breaker,"  was  the  Napoleon  of  Islam  who,  after  a  score 
of  invasions,  established  its  power  in  the  North,  demol- 
ishing temples,  slaughtering  infidels  and  obtaining  in- 
credible quantities  of  loot.  Delhi  became  the  capital  of 
the  new  kingdom,  and  was  enlarged  and  strengthened 
by  Mohammed  Ghori  and  his  successors  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  twelfth  and  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

^E.  M.  Wherry,  "Islam  and  Christianity  in  India  and  the  Far  East,"  49. 


THE    SPREAD   OF    ISLAM  75 

A  second  Moslem  kingdom  was  formed  about  this 
time  in  Bengal  and  Behar  by  Mohammed  Baktiyar,  who 
even  attempted  to  carry  Islam  into  Assam  and  Tibet. ^ 
But  it  was  during  the  period  of  1525- 1707,  when  the 
Mogul  Empire  was  dominant  in  India,  that  Islam  made 
its  largest  conquests,  its  most  brilliant  advances  and  the 
greatest  numerical  increase.  Wherry  says:  'The  names 
of  Akbar,  Jahangir,  Jehan  Shah,  and  Aurangzeb  occupy  ^ 
the  chief  places  in  the  galaxy  of  Mogul  emperors.  They 
most  of  all  encouraged  literature  and  the  fine  arts. 
To  them  we  owe  those  monuments  in  stone  and 
marble,  of  which  Moslems  may  well  be  proud  and 
which  still  lend  so  much  lustre  to  Mohammedan  rule 
in  India." 

Islam  was  introduced  into  Southern  India  by  the  con- 
quest of  Moslems  from  the  north  and  by  immigration 
on  the  southeast  coast.  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighth 
century  some  Arabs,  driven  from  Irak  by  the  persecu- 
tion of  Hajjaj  bin  Jusuf,  settled  near  Cape  Comorin  and 
their  descendants  and  converts  now  number  nearly  half 
a  million.  Other  Moslems  on  the  coast  claim  that  they 
are  descended  from  Medina  Arabs ;  and  others  again,  the 
Mapillas,  were  converted  to  Islam  by  one  of  their  num- 
ber who  made  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  and  returned  a 
zealous  propagandist.^  The  advance  of  Islam  in  India 
during  its  twelve  centuries  of  conquest  has  succeeded  in 
winning  over  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion. According  to  the  census  of  1901  there  are  over 
twenty-five  million  Moslems  in  Bengal,  over  ten  millions 
in  the  Punjaub,  and  in  all  North  India  about  forty-five 
millions.     The  remaining  seventeen  millions  belong  to 

^C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  90. 
2"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  175-178. 


^6  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

the  Deccan,  Central  Western  and  Southern  India,  mak- 
ing a  total  of  62,458,077. 

The  Malay  Archipelago. — A  glance  at  the  map  oppo- 
site page  56,  which  illustrates  the  spread  of  Islam,  will 
show  that  the  nearest  point  in  the  Malay  Archipelago  to 
the  Arab  trader  is  the  northern  coast  of  Sumatra.  Here 
Islam  began  its  conquest,  under  Sheikh  Abdullah  Arif 
and  Jehan  Shah.  In  1507  the  King  of  Atjih,  in  Northern 
Sumatra,  embraced  the  Moslem  faith,  while  Ibn  Batuta 
makes  mention  of  a  Moslem  ruler  in  Sumatra  as  early 
as  1345.  Next,  Islam  entered  Java.  A  certain  Arab, 
named  Rahmat,  who  styled  himself  an  apostle,  began  to 
preach  and  win  converts.  He  built  the  first  mosque  in 
Java.^  After  the  conversion  of  the  chief,  Raden  Patah, 
proselytes  became  more  numerous,  force  was  used  to 
extend  the  Moslem  state,  the  capital  fell  into  their  hands 
and  Islam  was  practically  triumphant  in  1478  A.  D. 
Nine  apostles  or  missionaries  were  sent  out  to  convert 
the  rest  of  the  people. 

Before  the  end  of  that  century  the  King  of  Ternate, 
in  the  Moluccas,  was  converted,  ''and  Islam  was  spread 
in  the  Spice  Islands  by  Javanese  traders  who  came  there 
for  the  double  purpose  of  procuring  cloves  and  impart- 
ing Islam."-  Arnold,  quoting  from  a  German  writer,  on 
the  spread  of  Islam  in  the  Philippines,  tells  us  how  these 
merchant  missionaries  carried  on  their  propaganda,  and 
the  account  is  typical  of  how  Islam  won  the  whole  Malay 
Archipelago :  "The  better  to  introduce  their  religion  into 
the  country,  the  Mohammedans  adopted  the  language 
and  many  of  the  customs  of  the  natives,  married  their 
women,  purchased  slaves,  in  order  to  increase  their  per- 

^C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  98. 
2Ibid,  99- 


THE   SPREAD   OF   ISLAM  77 

sonal  importance,  and  succeeded  finally  in  incorporating 
themselves  among  the  chiefs  who  held  the  foremost  rank 
in  the  state."^  In  1803  some  Sumatra  pilgrims,  who 
had  become  followers  of  the  Wahabi  movement  in  Ara- 
bia, returned  from  Mecca  to  proclaim  a  holy  war  against 
all  infidels,  first  the  heathen  Batta  tribes  and  afterward 
the  Dutch  rulers.  A  seventeen-year  war  followed,  and 
the  Dutch  government  took  the  last  stronghold  of  the 
zealots,  but  their  propaganda  did  not  cease  with  defeat 
on  the  field  of  battle.  Even  to-day  the  struggle  is  on 
between  Christian  missions  and  Islam  for  the  conquest  of 
the  remaining  heathen  tribes  in  Java  and  Sumatra.  The 
missionaries  write  (1906)  that  their  chief  task  now  is  to 
bring  into  the  church  the  mass  of  pagans  as  yet  un- 
touched by  Islam  and,  zvhile  there  is  yet  time,  to  send 
workers  to  regions  zvhich  are  in  danger  of  being  brought 
over  to  M ohammedanisni.-  So  we  see  that  the  spread 
of  Islam  is  not  past  history,  but  a  present  peril  in  the 
Malay  Archipelago  as  well  as  in  Western  Africa.  Among 
the  four  million  inhabitants  of  Sumatra  three  and  a  half 
millions  are  Moslems,  w^hile  in  Java  alone  Islam  has 
twenty-eight  million  adherents. 

Had  the  Christian  church  entered  upon  the  struggle 
for  these  island  possessions  earlier,  who  can  tell  what 
the  result  might  have  been  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ? 
Haines  writes:  ''The  conversion  of  Macassar  (Celebes) 
affords  an  interesting  instance  of  the  conflict  between 
Christianity  and  Islam.  The  king  apparently  considered 
the  question  of  the  true  religion  to  be  an  open  one,  and 
desired  instruction  in  both  religions  from  their  respective 
professors  before  he  decided  which  he  should  adopt.  The 

^T.  \V.  Arnold,  "Preaching  of  Islam,"  295. 
2"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  232. 


78  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

missionaries  from  Mecca,  however,  arrived  sooner  than 
the  Jesuits  from  Portugal,  and  the  king  became  a  Mo- 
hammedan.'*^ The  spread  of  Islam  in  three  continents 
for  well-nigh  twelve  centuries  was  due  to  the  power  of 
the  sword  and  to  the  low  moral  standards  of  the  new 
faith,'^  but  was  doubtless  greatly  facilitated  also  by  the 
lack  of  missionary  zeal  in  the  churches  of  Chri'^tendom. 
Beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  Oriental  churches  Islam 
advanced  in  her  world-conquest  unchallenged.  There 
were  no  missions  to  Islam. 

Islam  Our  Example. — The  history  of  the  spread  of 
Islam  is  not  without  significance  for  us  to-day.  In  spite 
of  cruelty,  bloodshed,  dissension  and  deceit,  the  story  of 
the  Moslem  conquest  is  full  of  heroism.  If  so  much  was 
done  in  the  name  and  after  the  example  of  Mohammed, 
what  should  we  not  do  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
in  obedience  to  His  marching  orders?  A  careful  study 
of  these  early  Moslem  conquests  impresses  one  with  the 
fact  that  some  measure  of  their  success  was  due  to  their 
enthusiasm  and  fanatic  faith,  as  well  as  to  the  charac- 
ter of  their  creed  and  the  mere  power  of  the  sword.  The 
preaching  of  Islam  was  earnest,  and  demanded  as  uncon- 
ditional a  surrender  as  did  their  weapons.  The  thunder 
of  their  cavalry  was  not  more  terrible  to  the  enemy  than 
the  clamor  of  their  short,  sharp  creed  in  the  ears  of  an 
idolatrous  and  divided  Christendom,  or  the  ears  of  ig- 
norant pagans:  *'La-ilaha  ilia  Allah!  Allahu  Akbar!" 
These  men  of  the  desert  carried  everything  before  them, 
because  they  had  the  backbone  of  conviction,  knew  no 
compromise,  and  were  thirsting  for  world-conquest.  Not 
Khalid  alone,  but  every  Moslem  warrior  felt  himself  to 
be  the  "Sword  of  God." 

^C.  R.  Haines,  "Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,"  loo.       ^S&&  Chapter  VL 


THE    SPREAD    OF    ISLAM  79 

Nor  did  they  shrink  from  hardship,  danger  or  death 
itself,  in  this  holy  war  for  their  faith.  Had  not  Mo- 
hammed said :  'The  fire  of  hell  shall  not  touch  the  legs 
of  him  who  is  covered  with  the  dust  of  battle  in  the 
road  of  God"?  And  was  not  Paradise  itself  under  the 
shadow  of  the  spears  of  the  thickest  fight? 

To  the  modern  Christian  world,  missions  imply  or- 
ganization, societies,  paid  agents,  subscriptions,  reports, 
etc.  All  this  is  practically  absent  from  the  present  Mos- 
lem idea  of  propagation,  and  yet  the  spread  of  Islam 
goes  on.  With  loss  of  political  power,  the  zeal  of  Islam 
seems  to  increase,  for  Egypt  and  India  are  more  active 
in  propagating  the  faith  than  are  Turkey  or  Morocco. 

In  Burma  (where  Indian  merchants  are  the  Moslem 
missionaries)  the  Moslem  population  increased  33  per 
cent,  in  the  past  decade.  In  the  Western  Soudan  and  on 
the  Niger  whole  districts  once  pagan  are  now  Moham- 
medan, and  this  has  been,  to  a  large  extent,  the  work 
of  lay  missionaries — merchants,  travelers  and  artisans. 
It  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  say  that  every  Moslem 
is  a  missionary,  but  it  is  true  that,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Derwish  orders  (who  resemble  monks),  the  mis- 
sionaries of  Islam  are  the  laymen  in  every  walk  of  life, 
rather  than  its  priesthood.  For  example,  a  pearl  mer- 
chant at  Bahrein,  East  Arabia,  recently,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense and  on  his  own  initiative,  printed  an  entire  edi- 
tion of  a  Koran  commentary  for  free  distribution.  On 
the  streets  of  Lahore  and  Calcutta  you  may  see  clerks, 
traders,  bookbinders,  and  even  coolies,  who  spend  part 
of  their  leisure  time  preaching  Islam  or  attacking  Chris- 
tianity by  argument. 

The  merchants  who  go  to  Mecca  as  pilgrims  from 
Java  return  to  do  missionary  work  among  the  hill-tribes. 


80  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

In  the  Soudan  the  Hausa  merchants  carry  the  Koran 
and  the  catechism  wherever  they  carry  their  merchandise. 
No  sooner  do  they  open  a  wayside  shop  in  some  pagan 
district  than  the  wayside  mosque  is  built  by  its  side. 
And  is  it  not  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  earnestness  even 
of  the  Arab  slave-dealers,  that,  in  spite  of  the  horrors  of 
the  traffic,  the  very  slave-routes  became  highways  for 
Islam,  and  the  negroes  adopted  the  religion  of  Moham- 
med, to  escape  the  very  curse  which  brought  it  to  them? 

The  laity  in  Islam  are,  in  one  sense,  all  preachers.  The 
vshop-keeper  and  the  camel-driver  are  ashamed  neither  of 
their  proud  creed  nor  of  their  prophet  and  his  book. 
They  proclaim  the  creed  from  the  housetop,  they  never 
utter  Mohammed's  name  without  a  prayer,  and  they 
carry  the  Koran  everywhere,  altho  80  per  cent,  of  the 
Moslem  world  is  illiterate.  If  they  cannot  read  it  they 
can,  at  least,  kiss  it  or  wear  it  as  an  amulet!  All  ranks 
of  society  are  propagandists.  By  such  incessant,  spon- 
taneous and  almost  fanatic  parading,  preaching,  pushing 
of  their  faith  by  the  mass  of  believers,  and  not  solely  by 
the  power  of  the  sword,  Islam  grew  to  its  gigantic  pro- 
portions. And  if  they  used  the  sword,  so  also  can  we. 
"The  Word  of  God  is  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword, 
piercing  even  to  the  dividing  of  soul  and  spirit  to  the 
joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts 
and  intents  of  the  heart."  That  blade  we  can  all  wield. 
It  is  a  better  sword  than  theirs,  and  slays  to  give  Life 
Eternal. 

If  they  did  so  much  with  theirs,  surely  we  can  do 
more  with  ours.  We  can  do  it,  if  we  will.  We  have  a 
better  message,  a  more  glorious  faith,  a  higher  motive, 
a  richer  reward,  a  more  certain  victory,  a  nobler  inspira- 
tion, a  better  comradeship,  and  a  Leader  before  Whose 


THE   SPREAD   OF   ISLAM  8l 

great  white  throne  and  great  white  Hfe  the  mock  majesty 
and  the  whitewashed  immorality  of  Mohammed  shrink 
in  abject  terror.  They  did  it  for  Mohammed.  Shall  we 
not  do  it  for  our  Saviour  in  the  spread  of  Christianity? 


THE  FAITH  OF  ISLAM 


"A  prophet  without  miracles;  a  faith  without  mysteries;  and 
a  morality  without  love;  which  has  encouraged  a  thirst  for 
blood,  and  which  began  and  ended  in  the  most  unbounded  sen- 
suality."— Schlegel's  Philosophy  of  History. 

"As  we  conceive  God,  we  conceive  the  universe;  a  Being  in- 
capable of  loving  is  incapable  of  being  loved." — Principal  Fair- 
bairn. 


IV 

THE    FAITH    OF   ISLAM 

Scope  of  This  Chapter. — All  Moslems  describe  the 
character  and  content  of  their  religion  under  two  heads, 
or  divisions,  called  Iman  and  Din.  The  first  concerns 
their  articles  of  faith,  or  what  an  orthodox  follower  of 
the  prophet  must  believe.  The  second  refers  to  the  out- 
ward practice  of  religion,  including  the  ritual  and  other 
requirements  of  Moslem  piety.  I'his  resembles  the  di- 
vision of  the  Christian  system  into  faith  and  practice,  as 
given  in  the  "Westminster  Shorter  Catechism." 

This  chapter  treats  only  of  Iman,  and  tells  what  a 
Moslem  must  believe;  the  relation  of  creed  to  charac- 
ter is,  however,  not  merely  a  formal  one,  but  vital  and 
organic  in  all  religion.  Because  Moslems  believe  as  they 
do,  therefore  their  religious  duties,  privileges  and  prac- 
tices are  what  they  are.  The  accompanying  table  (Appen- 
dix) sets  forth  in  outline  an  analysis  of  Islam  as  a  sys- 
tem developed  from  its  creed.  The  original  material  for 
that  system  is  found  in  the  Koran  text,  but  the  logical 
development  of  it  took  place  after  the  death  of  Moham- 
med, by  the  interpretation  of  the  Koran  and  the  collec- 
tion  (sometimes  the  invention^)   of  a  mass  of  so-called 

^Out  of  40,000  persons  who  have  been  instrumental  in  handing  down 
tradition,  Buchari  (died  256  A.  H.)  only  acknowledges  two  thousand  as 
reliable  authorities!  Sir  William  Muir  says  "there  are  abundant  indications 
of  actual  fabrication  throughout  Mohammedan  tradition."  Muir,  "Ma- 
homet," Intro.  Vol.  I,  xxviii. 

85 


86  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

"Traditions"  of  what  Mohammed  did  and  taught,  as  an 
example  to  true  beUevers. 

It  is  incumbent  on  all  orthodox  believers  to  have  a 
firm  faith  in  six  articles:  God,  His  Angels,  His  Books, 
His  Prophets,  the  Day  of  Judgment,  and  Predestination 
of  Good  and  Evil.  The  sources  of  Moslem  teaching  on 
these  topics  are  apparent  from  what  we  have  learned  in 
previous  chapters.  Islam  was  not  an  invention,  but  a 
concoction.  The  genius  of  Mohammed  mixed  old  in- 
gredients into  a  new  panacea  for  humanity,  sugar-coated 
it  with  an  easy-going  morality,  and  forced  it  down  by 
means  of  the  sword.  At  a  time  when  many  religions  ex- 
isted in  Arabia,  and  the  Kaaba  was  a  Pantheon,  the  hete- 
rogeneous elements  of  Islam  were  molded  into  one  sys- 
tem. These  elements,  as  we  have  seen,  were  partly  hea- 
then (Arabian),  partly  Christian  (Abyssinian);  but,  for 
the  most  part,  they  were  borrowed  from  Talmudic  Juda- 
ism. In  the  following  summary  of  Islam's  creed  and 
practice,  one  may  read  between  the  lines  the  sources  of 
Mohammed's  teaching.^ 

I.  The  Moslem.  Idea  of  God. — Moslems  believe  in 
God's  unity,  omnipotence  and  mercy.  "There  is  no  god 
but  Allah"  is  the  first  clause  in  the  Moslem  creed.  Gib- 
bon calls  it  an  eternal  truth,  but  Palgrave,  Noble,  Os- 
born,  Hauri,  and  other  students  of  Islam  have  questioned 
whether  the  monotheism  of  Islam  is  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  of  Judaism,  or  of  Christianity.  Islam 
reduces  God  to  the  category  of  the  will.  The  Koran 
shows  that  Mohammed  had  a  measurably  correct  idea 
of  the  physical  attributes  of  God,  but  an  absolutely  false 
conception  of  His  moral  attributes.  The  conception  of 
God  is  negative.    Absolute  sovereignty  and  ruthless  om- 

^Compare  also  the   table  opposite  page   86. 


S'ALYSIS  OF  THE  BORROWED  ELEMENTS  OF  ISLAM. 


I.  From  HEATHENISM 
\  existing  in  Mecca  or  pre 
in    other    parts    of    Arabia 


II.    From    JUDAISM 

(As  found  in  the  old   Testament,  bu 

more    especially  the  Talmud,   the 

source    of  Jewish    ideas    pre- 


Zoroastrianism; 
BudiJliism: 


(  Astrological  superstitions,  e 

i  Oaths  by  the  stars  and  planets.     (Surahs  oG,  53,  etc.) 

iCircumambulation  of  Kaaba— and  the  calendar. 
Allah  (as  name  of  supreme  deity),  used  in  old  poets  and  worshipped  by  the  Hanii 
and  others. 
Mecca— Cenlr,'  uf  reliL'i..n-^  pil.'rini:»-<— The  Black  Stone,  etc. 
Pilgrimat,".- — I'l  ■'.'•::  <\<  \.>i:     !.  ,  .1 ,  i!,  ■  ■-,  .  *'-  r;i._'-.  >  .1-1  m:;  atones,  sacrifice,  running 
Polygamy.     !  '       ■     ■     ■      :.\. 

Ceremoiiuil  ■ 

I  Cosmogony— I  Im-  .ini.-i.  nt  -l-.n.  -  .  I  l!.-  .    rH:       Ih. ■■_-■■  over  hell,  the  Sirat. 
Paradis^lLs  cli:ir;ic'tcr— tlit-  tiuun-s-pii.nka>  ul  Av«.v.Ut. 
Doctrine  of  Jimi  and  tlicir  various  kinds.     E.\urcism  uf  Jinn.     CSurah  113,  114.) 
The  use  of  the  rosary.    (See  Hughes' "Dictionary  of  Islam.") 

Words    that    represent  ^  Taboot    (ark) ;    Torah     Oaw);     Eden;     Gehi 


leas  and  Doctrines; 
iig  to  the  di\nsi 
abbi  Geiger.) 


Arabia  just  be- 


nd ( Vn 


j  Rabbi,  Ahbar  '(teachers) ;     Sakinat=Shekin 


I  Unity  of  God. 


Views  of  Life:  Use  of  "inshallah" 
,  Cain,  Enoch;  the  fabulous  thir 


I       n     cLir.^;^\„A  T J.     Noah— theflood—EberfHud)— Isaac,  Islunael,  Joseph.  Cf.  Ko 

V\ccord^^toR«m^-  Abraham-his  idolatry-Ninirod's  oven-Phnra<Uthe  calf-(tak 

(According  to  Rabbi  Geiger.)    vr„,„„_xi,«  f.KU.  .«i.t^  «f  l,™  <.«,!  a..»„  ...«  »M  .1™;=!,  t«I<.= 


crj-phal  gospels,  especially  the  "Gos- 
pel of  Barnabas.") 


.  ..        \v;ishing  or 

of    women,    etc.       (  with  sand. 
oi  discretion  corresponds  to  Tahnud. 
dentical  with  Tahnud. 
m  with  Talmud. 

''^^'e«'"->)MoT^^hrfabS'Sted''S'Km''^^  '°"'     "^     "  " 

(Jethro  (Shuaib);Saul  (Taloot);  Goliath  (Jilooti;  andfioiomon  especially.  Cf.Talmud. 
Reference  for  New  Testament— Tnj!I—fZarIi;iria.s,  John,  Gabriel). 
Respect  for  religious  teachfr-^:  tli"  !\"riit  r-f-rpnces  to  priests  and  monlis. 
Jesus  Christ — His  names- W^  ;!  ■  :  '  >.  1.  -  .  :it  of  God,  etc. — Puerile  miracles. 
—Denial  of  crucifixion 
, -l.    The  Virgin— Her  sinlessiiL"  -   liawari,"  an -(46i/««ntan  word  meaning  "pure  ones." 

-      Wrong  ideas  of  the  Trillil^-     A    1    ,  :  .     .v       ...r,  heretical  sects. 

'"' "■ '^'-    '         '  '  ■"  uderof  the  horns,"  "Lokman"  (.'Esop.). 


Christian  L 
A  fast  mor 
Alms-giving  as  an  essential  part  of  t 


i  worship. 


i" Arabia  the  Cradle  of  hlam 


THE   FAITH    OF   ISLAM  87 

nipotence  are  His  chief  attributes,  while  His  character 
is  impersonal — that  of  a  Monad.     The  Christian  truth, 
that  ''God  is  love,"  is  to  the  learned  Moslem  blasphemy 
and  to  the  ignorant  an  enigma.    "Islam,"  says  Palgrave, 
"is  the  Pantheism  of  Force."     Johannes  Hauri,  in  his 
classical  study  of  Islam,  says:^    "What  Mohammed  tells 
of  God's  omnipotence,  omniscience,  justice,  goodness  and 
mercy  sounds,  for  the  most  part,  very  well  indeed  and 
might  easily  awaken  the  idea  that  there  is  no  real  dif- 
ference between  his  God  and  the  God  of  Christianity. 
But  Mohammed's  monotheism  was  just  as  much  a  de-  ^ 
parture  from  true  monotheism  as  the  polytheistic  ideas   \ 
prevalent   in   the   corrupt   Oriental   churches.     Moham-    I 
med's  idea  of  God  is  out  and  out  deistic.     God  and  the  / 
world  are  in  exclusive,  external  and  eternal  opposition.^ 
And  James  Freeman  Clarke  calls  it  the  "worst  form  of 
monotheism,"  and  sums  up  the  distinction  thus:    "Islam 
saw  God,  but  not  man ;  saw  the  claims  of  deity,  but  not 
the  rights  of  humanity;  saw  authority,  but  failed  to  see 
freedom — therefore   hardened   into    despotism,    stiffened 
into  formalism,  and  sank  into  death.     .     .     .     Moham- 
med teaches  a  God  above  us ;  Moses  teaches  a  God  above 
us,  and  yet  zvith  us;  Jesus  Christ  teaches  God  above  us, 
God  with  us,  and  God  in  us."^ 

2.  The  Doctrine  of  Angels. — The  Moslems  assert  their 
belief  in  three  species  of  spiritual  beings,  viz.,  angels, 
jinn,  and  devils.  This  belief  is  not  theoretical,  but  is 
intensely  practical,  and  touches  everyday  life  at  many 
points. 

(a)  Angels  are  very  numerous,  were  created  out  of 
light,  and  are  endowed  with  life,  speech,  and  reason.   Of 

^"Der  Islam  in  seinem  Einfluss  auf  das  Leben  seiner  Bekenner,"  44,  45. 
(Leyden.) 
sjames  Freeman  Clarke,  "Ten  Great  Religions,"  Vol.  II,  68. 


88  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

the  four  archangels,  Gabriel  reveals  truth,  Michael  Is 
patron  of  the  Jews,  Israfil  will  sound  the  last  trump,  and 
Israil  is  the  angel  of  death.  Angels  are  inferior  to  the 
prophets.^  There  are  two  recording  angels  for  each  per- 
son, who  write  down  his  good  and  his  ill.  Therefore 
Mohammed  enjoined  his  people  not  to  spit  in  front,  or 
on  the  right,  but  on  the  left,  as  on  that  side  stands  the 
recording  angel  of  evil.-  Munkar  and  Nakir  are  two 
black  angels,  with  blue  eyes,  who  interrogate  men  after 
burial  in  the  grave,  and  mete  out  terrible  blows  to  those 
whose  replies  prove  them  not  Moslems.  Therefore,  at 
a  funeral,  parting  instructions  are  given  the  deceased  in 
the  grave.  The  Koran  seems  to  teach  that  angels  inter- 
cede for  men.^  The  names  of  guardian  angels  are  used 
in  exorcism ;  eight  special  angels  support  Allah's  throne ; 
and  nineteen  have  charge  of  hell-fires. 

(b)  Jinn,  or  genii,  are  either  good  or  evil.  They  were 
created  from  fire,  are  of  diverse  shapes,  marry  and 
propagate,  and.  are  mortal.  The  Koran  and  orthodox 
Moslem  theology  are  full  of  teaching  about  their  origin, 
office,  power,  and  destiny.  One  needs  only  to  read  the 
''Arabian  Nights"  to  get  an  idea  of  the  effect  of  this 
belief  on  life  and  morals.  No  pious  Moslem  to-day  doubts 
that  they  exist,  nor  that  Solomon  sealed  some  of  them 
up  in  brass  bottles !  In  Arabia,  Persia,  and  Morocco  they 
tell  stories  of  everyday  Moslem  life  and  encounters  with 
jinn  that  rival  the  tales  of  Sheherzade  to  the  King. 
The  chief  abode  of  jinn  is  in  the  mountains  of  Kaf, 
which  encompass  the  world;  they  also  frequent  baths, 
wells,  ruined  houses,  etc.  For  fear  of  jinn  millions  of 
the  ignorant  in  Moslem  lands  are,  all  their  lifetime,  sub- 
ject to  bondage.  This  article  of  their  creed  is  the  mother 

*Surah  2:32.  ^Mishkat,  Book  4,  Chapter  8.  ^Surah  42:3. 


THE    FATTH    OF    ISLAM  89 

of  a  thousand  foolish  and  degrading  superstitions,  yet 
it  can  never  be  abandoned  without  doing  violence  to 
the  Koran.  Read,  for  example.  Surahs  46  and  ^2,  which 
tell  how  the  jinn  listened  to  Mohammed's  preaching  and 
were  converted  to  Islam. 

(c)  The  devil  (Sheitan,  or  Iblis)  has  a  proper  name — 
Azazil.  He  was  expelled  from  Eden  for  refusal  to  pros- 
trate before  Adam  when  God  commanded  it.^  His  demo- 
nic host  is  numerous  and  terrible.  Noteworthy  among 
them  are  Harut  and  Marut,  two  evil  spirits  which  teach 
men  sorcery  at  Babylon. 

J.  The  Books  of  God. — Islam  is  decidedly  a  bookish 
religion,  for  Moslems  believe  that  God  "sent  down"  one 
hundred  and  four  sacred  books.  Their  doctrine  of  inspi- 
ration is  mechanical.  Adam  received  ten  books;  Seth, 
fifty;  Enoch,  thirty;  and  Abraham,  ten;  all  of  these  are 
utterly  lost.  The  four  books  that  remain  are  the  Torah 
(Law),  which  came  to  Moses;  the  Zabur  (Psalms), 
which  David  received;  the  Injil  (Gospel)  of  Jesus,  and 
the  Koran.  The  Koran  is  uncreated  and  eternal;  to 
deny  this  is  rank  heresy.  And  while  the  three  other  books 
are  highly  spoken  of  in  the  Koran,  they  now  exist,  Mos- 
lems say,  only  in  a  corrupted  form,  and  their  precepts 
have  been  abrogated  by  the  final  book  to  the  last  prophet, 
Mohammed.  This  is  the  belief  of  all  orthodox  Moslems. 
Thousands  of  Mohammedans  now,  however,  say  the 
Bible  is  not  corrupted,  and  read  it  willingly  and  gladly. 

The  Koran. — This  book  is  considered  by  Moslems  the 
great  standing  miracle  of  their  prophet,  and  it  is  a  re- 
markable production.  It  is  a  little  smaller  than  the  New 
Testament  in  bulk,  and  has  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
chapters,   bearing   fanciful   titles   borrowed   from   some 

^Surah  j-.i^iy. 


90  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

word  or  phrase  in  the  chapter,  e.  g.,  the  Cow,  the  Bee, 
Women,  Spoils,  the  Ant,  the  Spider,  Smoke,  the  Pen, 
etc.  The  book  has  no  chronological  order,  logical  se- 
quence, or  rhetorical  climax.  Its  jumbled  verses  throw 
together,  piecemeal,  fact  and  fancy,  laws  and  legends, 
prayers  and  imprecations.  It  is  unintelligible  without  a 
commentary,  even  for  a  Moslem.  Moslems  regard  it  as 
supreme  in  beauty  of  style  and  language,  and  miraculous 
in  its  origin,  contents,  and  authority.  From  the  Arab's 
literary  standpoint  it  is,  indeed,  a  remarkable  book.  Its 
musical  jingle  and  cadence  are  charming,  and,  at  times, 
highly  poetical  ideas  are  clothed  in  sublime  language. 
The  first  chapter  and  the  so-called  verse  of  the  "Throne" 
are  striking  examples: 

THE  OPENING  CHAPTER 

"In  the  name  of  God,  the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful. 
Praise  be  to  God,  Lord  of  the  worlds ! 
The  Compassionate,  the  Merciful ! 
King  of  the  Day  of  Judgment ! 

Thee  do  we  worship,  and  to  Thee  do  we  cry  for  help ! 
Guide  Thou  us   on  the  right  path ! 
The  path  of  those  to  whom  Thou  art  gracious  ! 
Not  of  those  with  whom  Thou  art  angered,  nor  of  those  who  go 
astray." 

THE   VERSE    OF   THE    THRONE. 

"God !  there  is  no  God  but  He ;  the  living,  the  Eternal. 
Slumber  doth  not  overtake  Him,  neither  sleep. 
To  Him  belongeth  whatsoever  is  in  heaven  and  on  the  earth. 
Who   shall  intercede  with  Him  except  by  His  permission?     He 

knows  what  is  between  their  hands  and  behind  them; 
And  they  can  not  encompass  aught  of  His  knowledge  except  as 

He  please.     His  throne  is  as  wide  as  the  heavens  and  the 

earth. 
The  preservation  of  both  is  no  weariness  unto  Him. 
He  is  the  high,  the  mighty." 


O    trt 

O    O 


s:  6 


(« ■ 


—    c         X 

>  i;  ^  2 
9   *^  .7: 


THE    FAITH    OF    ISLAM  9I 

The  great  bulk  of  the  Koran  is  either  legislative  or 
legendary;  the  book  consists  of  laws  and  stories.  The 
former  relate  entirely  to  subjects  which  engrossed  the 
Arabs  of  Mohammed's  day — the  laws  of  inheritance,  the 
relation  of  the  sexes,  the  law  of  retaliation,  etc. — and 
this  part  of  the  book  has  a  local  character.  The  stories, 
on  the  other  hand,  go  back  to  Adam  and  the  patriarchs, 
take  in  several  unknown  Arabian  prophets  or  leaders,  tell 
of  Jesus  Christ,  Moses  and  Solomon,  and  do  not  venture 
beyond  Jewish  territory,  except  to  mention  Alexander 
the  Great  and  Lokman  (.^sop). 

The  defects  of  its  teaching  are  many:  (a)  It  is  full 
of  historical  errors ;  (b)  it  contains  monstrous  fables ; 
(c)  it  teaches  a  false  cosmogony;  (d)  it  is  full  of  su- 
perstitions; (e)  it  perpetuates  slavery,  polygamy,  di- 
vorce, religious  intolerance,  the  seclusion  and  degrada- 
tion of  women,  and  it  petrifies  social  life.  All  this,  how- 
ever, is  of  minor  importance  compared  with  the  fact 
that  the  Koran  ever  keeps  the  supreme  question  of  sal- 
vation from  sin  in  the  background,  and  offers  no  doc- 
trine of  redemption  or  atonement  by  sacrifice.  In  this 
respect  the  Koran  is  inferior  to  the  sacred  books  of 
ancient  Egypt,  India,  an  China,  though,  unlike  them, 
it  is  monotheistic.  It  cannot  be  compared  with  the  Old 
or  the  New  Testament. 

4.  The  Major  and  Minor  Prophets. — According  to 
Moslem  writers,  a  prophet  is  one  w^ho  is  directly  in- 
spired by  God,  while  an  apostle  is  one  entrusted  with 
a  special  mission.  Mohammed  is  related  to  have  said 
that  there  were  124,000  prophets  (anbiya)  and  315  apos- 
tles (rusul).  Six  of  the  latter  are  designated  by  special 
titles,  and  are  the  major  prophets  of  Islam.  They  are 
as  follows:    Adam  is  the  chosen  of  God;    Noah,  the 


92  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

preacher  of  God;  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God;  Moses, 
the  spokesman  of  God;  Jesus,  the  word  of  God;  and 
Mohammed,  the  apostle  of  God.  In  addition  to  this  com- 
mon title,  Mohammed  has  two  hundred  and  one  other 
names  and  titles  of  honor  by  which  he  is  known  among 
the  faithful.  Their  devotion  to  him  is  intense  and  sin- 
cere. 

Only  twenty-two  others — minor  prophets — are  men- 
tioned in  the  Koran  besides  these  six,  altho  the  host  of 
prophets  is  so  large.  They  are:  Idris  (Enoch),  Hud 
(Heber),  Salih  (Methusaleh),  Ishmael,  Isaac,  Jacob, 
Joseph,  Lot,  Aaron,  Shuaib  (Jethro),  Zacharias,  John 
the  Baptist,  David,  Solomon,  Elias,  Elijah,  Job,  Jonah, 
Ezra,  Lokman  (^sop,  Balaam?),  Zu'1-Kifl  (Isaiah  or 
Obadiah?),  and  Zu'l  Karnain  (Alexander  the  Great). 
The  account  of  these  prophets  is  confused,  yet  we  must 
give  credit  to  some  Moslem  commentators  for  doubting 
whether  Lokman  and  Alexander  were  really  prophets ! 
Moslems  say  that  they  make  no  distinction  between  the 
prophets,  but  love  and  reverence  them  all.  Mohammed, 
however,  supersedes  all,  supplants  all  in  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  his  followers. 

The  Mohammed  of  history  and  the  Mohammed  of 
Moslem  tradition  are  two  different  persons.  In  the  Ko- 
ran Mohammed  is  thoroughly  human  and  liable  to  er- 
ror. He  is  now,  because  of  the  traditional  halo  which 
surrounds  him,  considered  to  have  had  a  pre-existence 
before  creation,  to  have  been  perfectly  sinless,  and  he  is 
the  only  powerful  intercessor  on  the  Day  of  Judgment. 
He  is  the  standard  of  character  and  the  model  of  con- 
duct. Every  detail  of  his  early  life  is  surrounded  with 
fantastical  miracles  which  prove  his  divine  commission. 
Even  the  evil  in  his  life  is  attributed  to  God's  permis- 


THE    FAITH    OF    ISLAM  93 

sion  or  command,  so  that  his  very  faults  of  character 
become  his  endless  glory  and  the  signs  of  his  superiority, 
e.  g.,  his  polygamy  and  cruel  wars  are  interpreted  as 
special  privileges.  He  dwells  in  the  highest  heaven  and 
is  several  degrees  above  Jesus,  our  Saviour,  in  honor 
and  station.  His  name  is  never  uttered  or  written  with- 
out the  addition  of  a  prayer.  Yet,  a  calm  and  critical 
study  of  his  life  proves  him  to  have  been  an  ambitious 
and  sensual  enthusiast,  who  did  not  scruple  to  break 
nearly  every  precept  of  the  moral  law  to  further  his  own 
ends.^ 

What  Moslems  Believe  Concerning  Jesus  Christ. — A 
Christian  studying  the  faith  of  Islam  soon  learns  not  only 
that  Christ  has  no  place  in  the  Moslem  idea  of  God,  as 
they  deny  the  Trinity,  but  that  the  portrait  of  our  Sav- 
iour, as  given  in  the  Koran  and  in  tradition,  is  a  sad 
caricature.  According  to  Moslem  teaching,  Jesus  was 
miraculously  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  He  spoke  while 
still  a  babe  in  the  cradle;  performed  many  puerile  mir- 
acles in  His  youth ;  healed  the  sick  and  raised  the  dead 
when  He  reached  manhood.  He  was  specially  com- 
missioned to  confirm  the  Law  and  reveal  the  Gospel. 
He  was  strengthened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  (Gabriel).  He 
foretold  another  prophet,  whose  name  should  be  Ah- 
med (Mohammed).  They  believe  that  Jesus  was,  by  de- 
ception and  substitution,  saved  from  crucifixion  and 
taken  to  heaven,  and  that  He  is  now  in  one  of  the  in- 
ferior stages  of  celestial  bliss ;  that  He  will  come  again 
at  the  last  day,  slay  anti-Christ,  kill  all  the  swine,  break 
the  Cross,  and  remove  the  poll-tax  from  infidels.  He 
will  reign  as  a  just  King  for  forty-five  years,  marry  and 

^See  Muir,  Koelle,  Sprenger  and  Weil,  the  earliest  Moslem  biography  by 
Ibn  Hisham  and  also  Chapter  II  in  this  volume. 


94  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

leave  children,  then  die  and  be  buried  near  Mohammed 
at  Aledina.  The  place  of  His  future  grave  is  already 
marked  out  between  the  graves  of  Omar  and  Fa- 
timah/ 

5.  The  Day  of  Judgment. — This  occupies  a  large  place 
in  the  creed  and  the  Koran.  It  is  called  the  Day  of 
Resurrection,  of  Separation,  of  Reckoning,  or  simply  the 
Hour.  Most  graphic  and  terrible  descriptions  portray 
the  terrors  of  that  day.  Moslems  believe  in  a  literal 
resurrection  of  the  body  from  a  living  principle  which 
resides  in  the  os  sacrum.  This  bone  will  be  impregnated 
by  a  forty-days'  rain  before  the  resurrection  takes  place. 
The  souls  of  martyrs  for  the  faith,  however,  remain, 
after  death,  in  the  crops  of  green  birds  which  eat  of  the 
fruits  and  drink  of  the  rivers  of  Paradise. - 

Moslems  believe  also  in  an  everlasting  life  of  physical 
joys,  or  physical  tortures.  The  Moslem  paradise,  in  the 
words  of  the  Koran,  is  "2.  garden  of  delight,  .  .  . 
with  couches  and  ewers,  and  a  cup  of  flowing  wine; 
their  brows  ache  not  from  it,  nor  fails  the  sense;  theirs 
shall  be  the  Houris,  .  .  .  ever  virgins."  What  com- 
mentators say  on  these  texts  is  often  unfit  for  transla- 
tion. The  orthodox  interpretation  is  literal,  and  so  was 
that  of  Mohammed,  because  the  traditions  give  minute 
particulars  of  the  sanitary  laws  of  heaven,  as  well  as  of 
its  sexual  delights. 

According  to  Al  Ghazzali^  (A.  H.  450),  Mohammed 
said:  "The  believer  in  Paradise  will  marry  five  hundred 
houris,  four  thousand  virgins  and  eight  thousand  di- 
vorced women."  Al  Ghazzali  is  one  of  the  greatest  theolo- 
gians of  Islam,  and  no  orthodox  Moslem  would  dispute 

^S.   M.   Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  49.  -Surah  3:163. 

"iv,  337. 


THE    FAITH    OF    ISLAM  95 

his  statement.  In  this  very  connection  GhazzaU  quotes 
the  words,  "things  which  eye  saw  not  and  which  did  not 
enter  into  the  heart  of  man  !"^ 

The  Moslem  hell  is  sevenfold,  and  "each  portal  has  its 
party."  All  the  wealth  of  Arabic  vocabulary  is  exhausted 
in  describing  the  terrors  of  the  lost,  and  Dante's  "Infer- 
no" is  a  summer-garden  compared  with  the  Jehennom 
of  Islam.  It  is  terribly  hot,  its  fuel  are  men  and  stones, 
its  drink  liquid  pus,  the  clothes  of  the  inhabitants  burn- 
ing pitch,  while  serpents  and  scorpions  sting  their  vic- 
tims. Connected  with  the  Day  of  Judgment  are  the  signs 
of  its  approach,  viz.,  the  coming  of  the  anti-Christ  (Daj- 
jal),  the  return  of  Jesus  as  a  Moslem  prince,  the  rising 
of  the  sun  in  the  West,  the  war  of  Gog  and  Magog,  etc. 

6.  Predestination. — This  last  article  is  the  keystone  in 
the  arch  of  IMoslem  faith.  It  is  the  only  philosophy  of 
Islam,  and  the  most  fertile  article  of  the  creed  in  its  ef- 
fects on  everyday  life.  As  in  the  Christian  church,  this 
doctrine  has  been  fiercely  discussed,  but  what  might  be 
called  ultra-Calvinism  has  carried  the  day.  The  termi- 
nology of  their  teaching  is  Calvinistic,  but  its  practical 
effect  is  pure  fatalism.  Most  Moslem  sects  "deny  all 
free-agency  in  man,  and  say  that  man  is  necessarily  con- 
strained by  the  force  of  God's  eternal  and  immutable  de- 
cree to  act  as  he  does."  God  wills  both  good  and  evil; 
there  is  no  escaping  from  the  caprice  of  His  decree.  Re- 
ligion is  Islam,  i.  e.,  resignation.  Fatalism  has  paralyzed 
progress.  Hope  perishes  under  the  weight  of  this  iron 
bondage;  injustice  and  social  decay  are  stoically  ac- 
cepted ;  no  man  bears  the  burden  of  another.  Hauri  and 
Osborn  show,  in  their'  study  of  this  subject,  how  its 
blasting  and  deadening  influence  is  felt  in  every  Moslem 

iGhazzali,   IV,  338. 


96  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

land.     Omar  Khayyam  voices  the  sentiment  of  milhons 
when  he  writes : 

"  'Tis  all  a  chequer-board  of  nights  and  days 
Where  Destiny  with  men  for  pieces  plays. 
Hither  and  thither  moves  and  mates  and  slays, 
And  one  by  one  back  in  the  closet  lays." 

To  the  Moslem,  God's  will  is  certain,  arbitrary,  irre- 
sistible, and  inevitable  before  any  event  transpires.  To 
the  Christian,  God's  will  is  secret  until  He  reveals  it; 
when  He  does  we  feel  the  imperative  of  duty.  Were  a 
Moslem  to  pray  to  Allah  "Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as 
it  is  in  heaven,"  he  would  be  guilty  of  folly,  if  not  of 
blasphemy.  An  archangel  and  a  murderer,  a  devil  and 
a  gnat  equally  execute  the  will  and  purpose  of  Allah 
every  moment  of  their  existence.  As  He  wills,  and  be- 
cause He  wills,  they  are  what  they  are,  and  continue 
what  they  are. 

No  wonder  that  this  article  of  the  Moslem  faith  has 
left  no  place  for  progress  in  the  lands  under  Moham- 
medan rule.  For,  as  Canon  Sell  says:  "It  is  this  dark 
fatalism  which,  whatever  the  Koran  may  teach  on  the 
subject,  is  the  ruling  principle  in  all  Moslem  countries. 
It  is  this  which  makes  all  Mohammedan  nations  decay." 


THE  RITUAL  OF  ISLAM 


"The  five  pillars  of  the  Mohammedan  faith  are  all  broken  reeds 
by  the  solemn  test  of  age-long  experience,  because  their  creed  is 
only  a  half-truth,  and  its  'pure  monotheism'  does  not  satisfy  the 
soul's  need  of  a  mediator  and  an  atonement  for  sin.  Their  pray- 
ers are  formal  and  vain  repetitions,  without  demanding  or  pro- 
ducing holiness  in  the  one  that  uses  them.  Their  fasting  is  pro- 
ductive of  two  distinct  evils  wherever  observed;  it  manufactures 
an  unlimited  number  of  hypocrites  who  profess  to  keep  the  fast 
and  do  not  do  so  and,  in  the  second  place,  the  reaction  which 
occurs  at  sunset  of  every  night  of  Ramazan  tends  to  produce 
revelling  and  dissipation  of  the  lowest  and  most  degrading  type. 
Their  almsgiving  stimulates  indolence,  and  has  produced  that 
acme  of  social  parasites — the  derwish  or  fakir.  Finally  their  pil- 
grimages to  Mecca,  Medina,  and  Kerbela  are  a  public  scandal  even 
to  Moslem  morality,  so  that  the  holy  cities  are  hotbeds  of  vice 
and  plague-spots  in  the  body  politic." — Missionary  Review  of  the 
World,  October,  1898. 


V 

THE  RITUAL  OF  ISLAM 

The  Religion  of  Good  Works. — While  everyone  who 
confesses  the  faith  of  Islam  is  a  Moslem  or  true  believer, 
yet  it  is  incumbent  on  all  who  believe  to  show  their  faith 
by  outward  observance  of  the  religious  duties  of  Islam. 
The  preceding  chapter  dealt  with  the  theoretical  part  of 
Islam,  called  Iman.  This  treats  of  its  practical  require- 
ments, called  Din.  That  told  of  faith,  this  of  works.  In 
Moslem  phraseology,  the  former  is  also  called  'Ilm-ul- 
Usool,  or  science  of  the  roots  of  religion ;  the  latter  'Ilm- 
ul-Feroo'a,  or  science  of  the  branches  of  religion.  While, 
generally  speaking,  Islam  means  resignation  to  the  will 
of  God,  Mohammed  stated  that  it  was,  especially,  to  be 
submissive  to  His  will  in  the  observance  of  five  duties. 
These  five  duties  merit  reward  and  are  called  "the  pil- 
lars," or  foundation,  of  religion.  Their  pious  observance 
is  the  mark  of  a  true  Moslem  ;  to  break  loose  from  any  one 
of  them  is  to  be  in  peril  of  damnation.  J^Iohammed  said : 
''A  Moslem  is  one  who  is  resigned  and  obedient  to  God's 
will,  and  ( i )  hears  zvitness  that  there  is  no  god  but  God, 
and  that  Mohammed  is  His  Apostle;  and  (2)  is  steadfast 
in  prayer;  and  (3)  gives  zakat  (legal  alms)  ;  and  (4) 
fasts  in  the  month  of  Ramazan  ;  and  (5)  makes  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  if  he  have  the  means. "^     Before  we  give  a 

^T.   P.  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  220. 

99 


lOO  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

summary  of  these  five  duties,  it  is  necessary  to  understand 
something  of  what  Moslems  mean  by  Tradition,  because 
all  the  details  of  these  duties  are  in  accord  with  the  ex- 
ample and  precept  of  the  Prophet,  altho  in  substance  they 
are  mentioned  in  the  Koran. 

The  Traditions. — The  Traditions  of  Islam  are  called 
Hadith,  or  Simnat-en-nebi.  The  former  term  means 
"that-which-is-related" ;  the  latter  signifies  the  custom, 
habit  or  usage  of  the  Prophet.  They  supplement  and 
interpret  the  Koran,  and  have  therefore  exercised  tre- 
mendous power  on  Moslem  thought  and  life  from  the 
early  days  of  Islam  with  ever-growing  force.  There  are 
one  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty-five  collections  of 
Traditions  in  existence,  but  only  six  of  them  are  counted 
classical  or  standard  by  the  orthodox  school.  The  six 
authors  of  the  classical  collections  were  ''higher  critics" 
in  a  measure  and  attempted  to  sift  the  chaff  from  the 
wheat  according  to  their  way  of  thinking.  Abu  Daood, 
one  of  their  number,  states  in  his  massive  work  that  he 
received  as  trustworthy  only  four  thousand  and  eight  hun- 
dred traditions  out  of  five  hundred  thousand.  And  yet 
after  this  careful  selection  he  says  he  has  given  ''those 
which  seem  to  be  authentic  and  those  which  are  nearly 
so." 

For  many  of  the  details  of  their  daily  religious  practice, 
and  for  nearly  all  of  their  jurisprudence,  Moslems  depend 
on  Tradition.  Here  is  a  specimen  of  the  traditions  which 
will  indicate  the  way  in  which  all  of  them  are  recorded 
by  a  chain  of  witnesses : 

A  Specimen  Tradition. — "Abu  Kuraib  said  to  us  that 
Ibrahim  ibn  Jusef  ibn  Abi  Ishak  said  to  us,  from  his 
father,  from  Abu  Ishak,  from  Tulata  ibn  Musarif,  that 
he  said,  I  have  heard  from  Abd-ur-Rahman  ibn  Ausajah 


THE    RITUAL   OF    ISLAM  lOI 

that  he  said,  I  have  heard  from  Bara  ibn  Azib  that  he 
said,  I  have  heard  that  the  Prophet  said,  whoever  shall 
give  in  charity  a  milch-cow,  or  a  piece  of  silver,  or  a 
leathern  bottle  of  water,  it  shall  be  equal  to  the  freeing  of 
a  slave." 

From  this  sample  it  is  evident  that  in  Islam  the  genuine- 
ness of  a  Tradition  depends  on  the  chain  of  narrators 
and  their  trustworthy  character.  Nearly  all  tradition  was 
orally  handed  down  and  its  authority  necessarily  depends 
on  the  memory  of  those  who  handed  it  down.  Yet  there 
is  no  doubt  that  these  ''collections  of  recollections"  re- 
corded two  centuries  after  Mohammed's  death  contain 
much  that  is  reliable  concerning  the  life  and  practice  of 
the  Prophet  and  his  companions.  ''That  the  collectors  of 
Tradition,"  says  Muir,  "rendered  an  important  service  to 
Islam  and  even  to  history  cannot  be  doubted."  The  table 
opposite  page  86  gives  the  list  of  the  six  orthodox  author- 
ities on  Tradition. 

The  Traditions  have  high  authority  in  Islam.  "An 
orthodox  Moslem  places  the  Gospels  in  the  same  rank 
as  the  Hadith;  that  is,  he  looks  upon  them  as  a  record 
of  what  Jesus  said  and  did,  handed  down  to  us  by  His 
companions."^  There  is  not  a  single  Moslem  sect  that 
looks  to  the  Koran  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
It  is  well  to  remember  this  when  superficial  students  of 
comparative  religion  tell  us  that  the  Mohammedan  re- 
ligion is  all  contained  in  the  Koran.  Who  seeks  to  un- 
derstand what  Islam  is  from  the  Koran  alone  will  succeed 
about  as  well  as  one  who  should  draw  his  ideas  of  Roman 
Catholicism  in  Mexico  from  the  New  Testament. 

The  five  chief  duties  of  a  pious  Moslem  are  carefully 
described  in  these  collections  of  tradition  and  leave  no 

IE.  Sell,  "The  Faith  of  Islam." 


102  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

doubt  as  to  the  importance  of  each  duty  if  the  believer 
would  be  assured  of  eternal  salvation.  The  first  of  the 
five  pillars  of  religion,  according  to  the  Koran  and  Tra- 
dition, is  Confession. 

I.  The  Confession  of  the  Creed. — It  is  the  shortest 
creed  in  the  world,  has  been  oftener  repeated,  and  has 
perhaps  had  more  power  over  those  that  uttered  it  than 
any  other.  The  creed  is  so  brief  that  it  has  needed  no 
revision  for  thirteen  centuries.  It  is  taught  to  infants 
and  whispered  in  the  ears  of  the  dying.  Five  times  a  day 
it  rings  out  in  the  call  to  prayer  in  the  whole  Moslem 
world :  ''La-ilaha-illa-llahu;  Muhanifnadu-Rasidu-allah." 
'There  is  no  god  but  God;  Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of 
God."  It  is  related  in  Tradition  that  the  Prophet  said, 
''Whosoever  recites  this  creed  shall  receive  rewards  equal 
to  the  emancipating  of  ten  slaves  and  shall  have  one  hun- 
dred good  deeds  put  to  his  account  and  one  hundred  of 
his  sins  shall  be  blotted  out,  and  the  words  shall  be  a  pro- 
tection from  the  devil."  On  every  occasion  this  creed  is 
repeated  by  the  believer.  It  is  the  key  to  every  door  of 
difficulty.  It  is  the  watchword  of  Islam.  These  words 
they  inscribe  on  their  banners  and  on  their  door-posts. 
They  appear  on  all  the  early  coins  of  the  caliphs.  This 
creed  of  seven  Arabic  words  rings  out  in  every  Moslem 
village  from  the  Philippines  to  Morocco.  One  hears  it 
in  the  bazaar  and  the  street  and  the  mosque ;  it  is  a  battle- 
cry  and  a  cradle-song,  an  exclamation  of  delight  and  a 
funeral  dirge.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  continual, 
public  repetition  of  a  creed  has  been  a  source  of  strength 
to  Islam  for  ages,  as  well  as  a  stimulus  to  fanaticism ;  wit- 
ness the  use  of  this  creed  by  the  Derwish  orders  in  their 
nightly  meetings. 

When  anyone  is  converted  to  Islam  he  or  she  is  re- 


ANALYSIS     OF    I3L.\M    AS    A    SYSTEM    DEVELOPED    FROM    ITS    CREED. 


TUG  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  ■■PantheiBm  of  Forct 


I  Deification  of  a 


;  (Athbal)  "but  Allah.-' 


above  the  moral. 
of  neoationa  "He  i: 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF 
REVELATION; 


To  Adam  —  ten  books   I 


AH     r  These  nre  highly  e 


The  Of  thes 
_,ja     Twenty 

dailyjincluding:— < 
3  Fasting  (month  of 


iPraii 


facing  the  Kiblah  (Mecca) 
Praiaeand  ConfeflBion— the  Salaam, 
erbela  (Meshed  All,  etc.),  (Shiaha) 


(SuDnat-«l-fa'il)  (example) 


Verbally  handed  f  A.  The  Sunnite  Trad 

, ._ -^.--,  down  from  (collected  and  record 

Records  of  what  Mohammed  enjoined     I  mouth  to  mouth  J        following  six  auth 

L  (Sunnat-et-ta  m)  ( icense  ot    sects.  ^^  ^^^  ^^_^^  Tr!L<i\t\ 

(ave  authorities 


E  orthodox  teachers  from  Sources  I.  and  II. 


THE   RITUAL   OF    ISLAM  IO3 

quired  to  repeat  this  formula ;  and  a  thorough  conversion 
requires : 

1.  That  it  be  repeated  aloud  at  least  once  in  a  lifetime,  and 
the  oftener  the  better, 

2.  That  the  meaning  of  it  be  fully  understood. 

3.  That  it  shall  be  believed  in  by  the  heart. 

4.  That  it  shall  be  professed  until  death. 

5.  That  it  shall  be  recited  correctly. 

6.  That  it  shall  be  always  professed  and  declared  without  hesi- 
tation.i 

Surely  this  diligent,  constant,  almost  fanatic  use  of 
their  short  creed  as  a  public  confession  has  been  not  only 
a  strength  to  Islam,  but  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  its 
rapid  spread.  The  very  impetuosity  and  frequency  of  its 
repetition  has  often  persuaded  ignorant  men  of  its  truth 
by  the  impetus  of  its  proclamation. 

2.  Prayer. — The  fact  that  Moslems  pray  often,  early 
and  earnestly  has  elicited  the  admiration  of  many  travel- 
ers, who,  ignorant  of  the  real  character  and  content  of 
Moslem  prayer,  judge  it  from  a  Christian  standpoint. 
What  the  Bible  calls  prayer  and  what  the  Moslem  calls 
by  the  same  name  are,  however,  to  a  degree,  distinct  con- 
ceptions. One  who  was  for  many  years  a  missionary  in 
India,  and  who  is  an  authority  on  Islam,  says:  "Prayer 
is  by  them  reduced  to  a  mechanical  act;  and,  in  judging 
of  the  spiritual  character  of  Mohammedanism,  we  must 
take  into  careful  consideration  the  precise  character  of 
these  devotional  services  five  times  daily. "^  The  devo- 
tions of  Islam  are  essentially  vain  repetitions,  for  they 
must  be  said  in  the  Arabic  language  by  all  Moslems, 
whether  in  China  or  Calcutta,  in  the  Soudan  or  Singapore. 

IT.  P.  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  63. 

^Ibid,  471;  and  Dean   Stanley,   "Eastern   Church,"   279. 


104  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Three-fourths  of  the  Mohammedan  world  pray  five  times 
daily  in  an  unknown  tongue.  Yet  their  prayers  are  per- 
sistent and  often  sincere.  Mohammed  used  to  call  prayer 
''the  pillar  of  religion"  and  ''the  key  of  Paradise." 

The  first  requirement  of  correct  prayer  is  that  it  be  in 
the  right  direction,  i.e.,  toward  the  Kaaba  at  Mecca.  Be- 
cause of  this,  private  houses,  as  well  as  mosques,  all  over 
the  Mohammedan  world,  are  built  accordingly,  and  not  on 
meridian  lines.  It  is  often  pathetic  to  hear  a  wayfarer 
or  a  Moslem  who  travels  on  an  ocean  steamer  ask  which 
is  the  proper  direction  to  turn  at  the  hour  of  prayer.  To 
pray  with  one's  back  to  Mecca  would  be  unpardonable. 
Many  Moslems  carry  a  pocket-compass  on  their  journeys 
to  avoid  all  possible  errors  of  this  character. 

Purification. — Another  necessary  preliminary  to  every 
Moslem  pray'er  is  legal  purification.  Whole  books  have 
been  written  on  this  subject,  describing  the  occasions, 
method,  variety  and  effect  of  ablution  by  water,  or,  in  its 
absence,  by  sand.  The  ritual  of  purification  is  one  of  the 
chief  shibboleths  of  the  many  Moslem  sects.  In  Moham- 
medan works  of  theology  there  are  chapters  on  the  proper 
way  of  washing,  on  the  use  of  the  toothbrush,^  on  the 
different  kinds  of  water  allowed  for  ablution,  and  on  all 
the  varieties  of  uncleanness.  As  a  sample  of  the  puerile 
details  of  their  ritual,  here  is  a  verbatim  transcript  of  the 
correct  religious  use  of  the  toothbrush,  as  given  in  ortho- 
dox tradition:  "Abu  Huraira  said  that  Mohammed  (on 
him  be  prayers  and  peace)  said.  Had  I  not  doubted  con- 

iA]l  Moslems  use  a  vegetable  toothbrush  made  ot  a  root  or  twig  and 
called  miswak.  •'Brushes  for  the  head  and  teeth  have  not  yet  been  intro- 
duced into  Moslem  families,  nor  is  it  ever  likely  they  will,  unless  some 
other  material  than  pigs'  bristles  can  be  used  in  their  manufacture.  The 
swine  is  abominable  to  Moslems." — Mrs.  Meer  Hassan  Ali,  "Observations 
on  the  Mussulmans  ot  India,"  105.  T.  P.  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam," 
353- 


FOUNTAIN     IN    A    :\10S0UE,    ALGIERS 

The  inscripticn   o>er  tlie  arch   is  from   the   Koran,   and  reads:   "And   wash 
your  forearms  and  your  feet  as  far  as  the  ankles." 

104 


THE   RITUAL   OF    ISLAM  IO5 

cerning  my  people  I  would  have  commanded  them  to  burn 
incense  at  night  and  to  use  the  toothbrush  before  every 
prayer.  This  is  a  sure  tradition. — Shuraib  said,  I  asked 
Ayesha  what  the  Prophet  (on  him  be  prayers  and  peace) 
first  did  on  entering  a  house,  and  she  said,  He  used  a 
toothbrush.  Huthaifa  relates  that  the  Prophet  (on  him 
be  prayers  and  peace)  when  he  got  up  for  night  prayers 
would  brush  his  teeth  with  a  miszvak.  .  .  .  Ayub  said, 
The  Prophet  (on  him  be  prayers  and  peace)  said.  On  four 
things  all  the  prophets  of  former  times  agreed :  Saluta- 
tion, circumcision,  perfumes  and  the  use  of  the  tooth- 
brush. .  .  .  Ayesha  said,  The  Prophet  would  not  lie 
down  at  night  nor  in  the  day  and  rise  again  without  using 
the  toothbrush  before  washing  for  prayers.  She  said,  The 
Prophet  would  take  the  toothbrush  and  then  give  it  to  me 
to  wash  and  then  use  it.  Then  I  would  use  it  and  wash 
it  and  return  it  to  him.  .  .  .  Abu  Imam  say  that  the 
Prophet  (on  him  be  prayers  and  peace)  said,  Gabriel 
never  came  to  me  except  he  commanded  me  to  use  tlie 
toothbrush.  Ayesha  said.  The  Prophet  (on  him  be  prayers 
and  peace)  said.  The  prayer  after  using  a  toothbrush  is 
better  than  the  prayer  without,  seventy-fold  .  .  .  "^ 
The  book  from  which  this  is  quoted  is  accepted  by  all 
orthodox  Mohammedans  of  North  Africa,  the  Levant 
and  India  as  one  of  the  highest  authorities  on  piety. 
All  Moslem  books  on  Practical  Theology  (Fiqh)  contain 
page  after  page,  which  cannot  be  given  here,  of  most 
minute  and  often  obscene  and  disgusting  explanations  on 
what  constitutes  impurity  and  defilement.  Altho  in  theory 
it  is  mentioned,  in  practice  moral  purity  as  a  preparation 
for  prayer  is  never  alluded  to,  nor  does  the  Koran  allude 
to  it.     After  proper  purification  and  lustration  according 

iMishkat,  Book  111,  On  Purification,  Part  3. 


io6  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

to  the  degree  of  ceremonial  uncleanness  or  the  particular 
practice  of  his  sect,  the  Moslem  is  ready  for  prayer.  Or- 
dinary purification  always  includes  washing  various  parts 
of  the  body  three  times,  according  to  fourteen  rules. 

The  Five  Proper  Times  for  Prayer  are  at  dawn,  just 
after  high  noon,  two  hours  before  sunset,  at  sunset,  and 
again  two  hours  after.  It  is  forbidden  to  say  morning 
prayers  after  the  sun  is  risen. 

Posture  is  of  prime  importance,  and  includes  facing 
the  Kibla,  i.e.,  Mecca,  as  well  as  a  series  of  prostrations 
and  genuflections  more  easily  imitated  than  described. 

The  words  repeated  during  this  exercise  consist  of 
Koran  phrases  and  short  chapters,  which  include  praise, 
confession  and  a  prayer  for  guidance.  Often  the  chap- 
ters chosen  have  no  connection  with  the  topic  of  prayer. 
Personal  private  petitions  are  allowed  after  the  liturgical 
prayers,  but  they  are  not  common.  The  least  departure 
from  the  rule  in  purification,  posture  or  method  of  prayer 
nullifies  its  effect,  and  the  worshipper  must  begin  over 
again.  Special  prayer  is  obligatory  at  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun  or  moon  and  on  the  two  Moslem  festivals.  It  has 
been  calculated  that  a  pious  Moslem  repeats  the  same 
form  of  prayer  at  least  seventy-five  times  a  day ! 

The  Call  to  Prayer  heard  from  minarets  five  times  daily 
in  all  Moslem  lands  is  as  follows.  The  muezzin  cries  it 
in  a  loud  voice  and  always  in  the  Arabic  language :  '*God 
is  most  great !  God  is  most  great !  God  is  most  great ! 
I  testify  that  there  is  no  god  but  God !  I  testify  that 
there  is  no  god  but  God !  I  testify  that  Mohammed  is 
the  Apostle  of  God !  I  testify  that  Mohammed  is  the 
Apostle  of  God !  Come  to  prayer !  Come  to  prayer ! 
Come  to  prosperity !  Come  to  prosperity !  God  is  most 
great !     God  is  most  great !     There  is  no  god  but  God !" 


THE   RITUAL   OF    ISLAM  lO/ 

In  the  call  to  early  morning  prayer  the  words  "prayer 
is  better  than  sleep"  are  added  twice  after  the  call  to 
prosperity.^ 

3.  The  Month  of  Fasting. — This  was  probably  bor- 
rowed by  Mohammed  from  the  Christian  Lent.  There 
are  many  traditions  that  tell  how  important  fasting  is. 
Let  one  suffice :  "Every  good  act  that  a  man  does  shall 
receive  from  ten  to  seven  hundred  rewards,  but  the  re- 
wards of  fasting  are  beyond  bounds,  for  fasting  is  for 
God  alone  and  He  will  give  its  rewards."  The  chief 
Moslem  fast  is  that  of  the  month  of  Ramazan.  This  is 
the  ninth  month  of  the  Moslem  year,  but  because  they 
have  a  lunar  calendar  it  can  occur  at  any  season.  At 
present  Ramazan  corresponds  to  December,  and  the 
days  are  short.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fast  is  extremely 
hard  upon  the  laboring  classes  when,  by  the  changes  of 
the  lunar  calendar,  it  falls  in  the  heat  of  summer,  when 
the  days  are  long.  Even  then  it  is  forbidden  to  drink  a 
drop  of  water  or  take  a  morsel  of  food.  Yet  it  is  a  fact 
that  Mohammedans,  rich  and  poor,  spend  more  on  food 
in  that  month  than  in  any  other  month  of  the  year ;  and 
it  is  also  true  that  physicians  have  a  run  of  patients  with 
troubles  from  indigestion  at  the  close  of  this  religious 
fast !  The  explanation  is  simple.  Although  the  fast  ex- 
tends over  one  lunar  month,  it  only  begins  at  dawn  and 
ends  at  sunset  each  day.  During  the  whole  night  it  is 
usual  to  indulge  in  pleasure,  feasting  and  dinner  parties. 
This  makes  clear  what  Mohammed  meant  when  he  said 
that  "God  w^ould  make  the  fast  an  ease  and  not  a  diffi- 
culty." 

The  hours  during  which  fasting  is  prescribed  are  to  be 

^For  further  details  of  the  prayer-ritual,   see  F.  A.    Klein,   "The   Religion 
of  Islam,"  120-156. 


ioS  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

sacredly  observed.  Not  only  is  there  total  abstinence 
from  food  and  drink,  but  bathing,  smoking,  taking  snuff, 
smelling  a  flower  and  the  use  of  medicine  are  prohibited. 
I  have  even  heard  Moslem  jurists  discuss  whether  hypo- 
dermic medication  was  allowed  during  the  fast  period. 
In  Eastern  Arabia  the  use  of  an  eye-lotion  even  is  con- 
sidered as  equivalent  to  breaking  the  fast.  The  law  pro- 
vides, however,  that  infants,  idiots,  the  sick,  and  the  aged 
are  exempted  from  observing  this  fast. 

Voluntary  fasting  on  certain  other  days  is  also  very 
common  in  imitation  of  the  Prophet's  example.  It  is  cus- 
tomary for  the  pious  to  spend  the  hours  of  Ramazan  in 
reading  the  Koran  or  the  Traditions.  Mohammed  said : 
"He  who  forsakes  the  fast  of  Ramazan  becomes  an  in- 
fidel, whom  to  deprive  of  his  wealth  and  his  life  is  law- 
ful."^ 

4.  Zakat,  or  Legal  Alms. — This  pillar  of  religion, 
like  all  the  others,  rests  rather  upon  the  authority 
of  tradition  than  upon  the  precepts  of  the  Koran, 
since  every  detail  in  its  observance  is  borrowed 
from  the  example  of  the  Prophet  himself.  In  its  primi- 
tive sense  the  word  zakat  means  purification,  and  it  was 
applied  to  legal  alms,  or  the  poor-rate,  since  the  gift  of  a 
portion  of  one's  gain  or  property  would  purify,  or  sanc- 
tify, the  remainder.  These  compulsory  alms  were  in  the 
early  days  of  Islam  collected  by  the  religious  tax-gath- 
erer, as  they  are  still  in  some  Mohammedan  countries. 
Where  Moslems  are  under  Christian  rule,  however,  the 
rate  is  paid  out  by  each  Mohammedan  according  to  his 
own  conscience.  The  rate  varies  greatly,  and  the  differ- 
ent sects  disagree  as  to  what  was  the  practice  of  the 
Prophet.     Moreover,  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  precedent  in 

^F.  A.   Klein,  "The  Religion  of  Islam,"   164. 


THE    RITUAL    OF    ISLAM  lOQ 

the  customs  of  pastoral  Arabia  for  the  present  methods  of 
acquiring  and  holding  property  in  lands  touched  by  civili- 
zation. The  greatest  details  are  given,  e.g.,  regarding 
zakat  on  camels,  but  there  is  no  precedent  for  zakat  on 
city  lots  or  on  railway  bonds!  One-fortieth  of  the  total 
income  is  about  the  usual  rate.  The  tithe  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament was  a  much  larger  portion  and  was  supplemented 
by  many  free-will  offerings.  Charitable  offerings  are 
also  common  in  Islam,  but,  generally  speaking,  the  Mos- 
lem who  gives  his  zakat  is  satisfied  that  he  has  fulfilled  all 
righteousness.  There  are  seven  classes  to  whom  this 
legal  alms  may  be  given,  viz.,  the  poor,  the  homeless,  the 
tax-collector,  slaves,  debtors,  those  engaged  in  fighting 
for  Islam,  and  wayfaring  travellers.  The  wonderful  and 
cheerful  hospitality  of  so  many  Moslem  peoples  finds 
here,  in  part,  its  religious  ground  and  explanation.  It  is 
a  religious  duty  to  be  hospitable.  IMohammed  excelled 
in  this  Semitic  virtue  himself,  and  left  a  noble  example  to 
his  followers.  Arabia  is  a  land  without  hotels,  but  with 
lavish  hospitality  nearly  everywhere. 

5.  The  Pilgrimage. — The  pilgrimage  (Hajj)  to  Mecca 
is  not  only  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  religion  of  Islam,  but 
it  has  proved  one  of  the  strongest  bonds  of  union  and  has 
always  exercised  a  tremendous  influence  as  a  missionary 
agency.  Even  to-day  the  pilgrims  who  return  from  Mecca 
to  their  native  villages  in  Java,  India  and  West  Africa  are 
fanatical  ambassadors  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of  Islam. 
From  an  ethical  standpoint,  the  Mecca  pilgrimage,  with 
its  superstitious  and  childish  ritual,  is  a  blot  upon  Moham- 
medan monotneism.  But  as  a  great  magnet  to  draw  the 
Moslem  world  together  w^ith  an  annual  and  ever-widening 
esprit  de  corps,  the  Mecca  pilgrimage  is  without  a  rival. 
The  number  of  pilgrims  that  come  to  Mecca  varies  from 


no  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

year  to  year ;  although  Tradition  says  that  it  is  always  72,- 
000,  the  angels  completing  any  deficiency  in  the  number 
of  earthly  pilgrims!  The  vast  majority  arrive  by  sea 
from  Egypt,  India  and  the  Malay  archipelago.  The  pil- 
grim caravan  from  Syria  and  Arabia  by  land  is  growing 
smaller  every  year,  for  the  roads  are  very  unsafe.  It  will 
probably  increase  again  on  the  completion  of  the  Hejaz 
railway  from  Damascus  to  Mecca.  All  told,  from  sixty 
to  ninety  thousand  pilgrims  reach  Mecca  at  the  time  of 
the  Hajj. 

For  the  details  of  the  pilgrimage  one  must  read  Burck- 
hardt,  Burton,  or  other  of  the  dozen  travellers  who  have 
risked  their  lives  in  visiting  the  forbidden  cities  of  Islam. 
In  brief,  the  ceremonies  are  as  follows :  After  donning 
the  garb  of  a  pilgrim  and  performing  the  legal  ablutions, 
the  Hajji  visits  the  sacred  mosque  and  kisses  the  Black 
Stone.  He  then  runs  around  the  Kaaba  seven  times — 
thrice  very  rapidly  and  four  times  slowly — in  imitation 
of  the  motions  of  the  planets.  Next  he  offers  a  prayer : 
"O  Allah,  Lord  of  the  Ancient  House,  free  my  neck  from 
hell-fire  and  preserve  me  from  every  evil  deed ;  make  me 
contented  with  the  daily  food  Thou  givest  me,  and  bless 
me  in  all  Thou  hast  granted."  At  *'the  place  of  Abra- 
ham" he  also  prays ;  he  drinks  water  from  the  sacred 
well  of  Zemzem  and  again  kisses  the  Black  Stone.  Then 
the  pilgrim  runs  between  the  hills  of  Safa  and  Marwa. 
He  visits  Mina  and  Arafat,  a  few  miles  from  Mecca,  and 
at  the  latter  place  listens  to  a  sermon.  On  his  return  he 
stops  at  Mina  and  stones  three  pillars  of  masonry  known 
as  the  "Great  Devil,"  "the  middle  pillar,"  and  the  "first 
one"  with  seven  small  pebbles.  Finally  there  is  the  sacri- 
fice of  a  sheep  or  other  animal  as  the  climax  of  the  pil- 
grim's task.     Snouck  Hurgronje  and  Dozy  have  given 


THE   RITUAL   OF   ISLAM  III 

US  the  philosophical  origin  of  these  strange  ceremonies  in 
their  monographs.^  The  whole  pilgrimage  is,  in  the 
words  of  Kuenen,  "a  fragment  of  incomprehensible 
heathenism  taken  up  undigested  into  Islam."  And  as 
regards  the  veneration  for  the  Black  Stone,  there  is  a 
tradition  that  the  Caliph  Omar  remarked:  **By  God,  I 
know  that  thou  art  only  a  stone  and  canst  grant  no  benefit 
or  do  no  harm.  And  had  I  not  known  that  the  Prophet 
kissed  thee  I  would  not  have  done  it." 

The  Kaaba  and  Its  Black  Stone. — These  merit  at  least 
a  paragraph,  since  they  are  the  centre  toward  which,  as 
toward  the  shrine  of  their  religion,  the  prayers  and  pil- 
grim-journeys of  millions  have  gravitated  for  thirteen 
centuries.  The  story  goes  that  when  Adam  and  Eve  fell 
from  Paradise,  Adam  landed  on  a  mountain  in  Ceylon 
and  Eve  fell  at  Jiddah,  on  the  western  coast  of  Arabia. 
(Jiddah  signifies  ^'grandmother.")  After  a  hundred 
years  of  wandering  they  met  near  Mecca  and  here  Allah 
constructed  for  them  a  tabernacle  on  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent Kaaba.  He  put  in  its  foundation  the  famous  stone, 
once  whiter  than  snow,  but  since  turned  black  by  the 
kisses  of  pilgrims. 

The  name  Kaaba  means  a  cube ;  but  the  building  is  not 
built  true  to  line  and  is  in  fact  an  unequal  trapezium.^ 
Because  of  its  location  in  a  hollow  and  its  black-cloth 
covering,  these  inequalities  are  not  apparent  to  the  eye. 

The  Kaaba  proper  stands  in  an  oblong  space  250  paces 

^Snouck  Hurgronje,  "Het  Mekkaansche  Feest"  (Leyden,  1880).  Dozy,  "De 
Israelieten  te  Mekka  van  David's  tijd  enz"  (Haarlem,  1864).  These  are  in 
the  Dutch  language,  and  contain  matter  nowhere  else  accessible,  as  far  as 
the  author  is  aware. 

-Its  measurements,  according  to  AH  Bey,  are  37  ft.  2  in.,  31  ft.  7  in., 
38  ft.  4  in.,  29  ft.  and  its  height  is  34  ft.  4  in.  The  student  could  con- 
struct a  model  from  these  measurements,  Burton's  full  description,  and 
Hurgronje's  photographs. 


112  islam:     a  challenge  to  faith 

long  by  200  broad.  This  open  space  is  surrounded  by 
colonnades  used  for  schools  and  as  the  general  rendez- 
vous of  pilgrims.  It  is  in  turn  surrounded  by  the  outer 
temple  wall,  with  its  nineteen  gates  and  six  minarets. 
The  Mosque  is  of  much  more  recent  date  than  the  Kaaba, 
which  was  well  known  as  an  idolatrous  Arabian  shrine 
long  before  the  time  of  JNlohammed.  The  Sacred  Mosque 
and  its  Kaaba  contain  the  following  treasures :  the  Black 
Stone,  the  well  of  Zemzem,  the  great  pulpit,  the  staircase 
and  the  Kubattein,  or  two  small  mosques  of  Saab  and 
Abbas.  The  remainder  of  the  space  is  occupied  by  pave- 
ments and  gravel  arranged  to  accommodate  and  distin- 
guish the  four  orthodox  sects  in  their  devotions.  (See 
Plan  of  the  Mosque,  opposite.) 

The  Black  Stone  is  undoubtedly  the  oldest  treasure  of 
Mecca.  Stone-worship  was  an  Arabian  form  of  idolatry 
in  very  ancient  times,  and  relics  of  it  remain  in  many 
parts  of  the  Peninsula.  Maximus  Tyrius  wrote  in  the 
second  century,  "The  Arabians  pay  homage  to  I  know  not 
what  god,  which  they  represent  by  a  quadrangular  stone.'' 
The  Guebars,  or  ancient  Persians,  assert  that  the  Black 
Stone  was  an  emblem  of  Saturn  and  was  left  in  the  Kaaba 
by  Mahabad.  It  is  probably  an  aerolite  and  owes  its  rep- 
utation to  its  fall  from  the  sky.  Moslem  historians  do 
not  deny  that  it  was  an  object  of  worship  before  Islam, 
but  they  escape  the  moral  difficulty  and  justify  their 
Prophet  by  further  traditions  about  its  origin  and  miracu- 
lous character. 

The  Mecca  pilgrimage  is  incumbent  on  every  free  Mos- 
?em,  male  or  female,  who  is  of  age  and  has  sufficient 
means  for  the  journey.  Many  of  them,  unwilling  to  un- 
dergo the  hardship  of  the  journey,  engage  a  substitute, 
and  thus  purchase  the  merit  for  themselves.     Most  Mos- 


Itak  Ibrahim  oif 
TlioTaibnOste 


Bab  el  Zajt  or 

Ball  clJUharah 


Uab  <■'  Abliaa  Gat  t\  Nahi  Qak  t\  Sainu 

PLAN   OF  KAAF.A 


THE    RITUAL   OF    ISLAM  II3 

lems  also  visit  the  tomb  of  Mohammed  at  Medina  and 
claim  the  Prophet's  authority  for  this  added  merit.  The 
Shiah  Moslems  visit  Kerbela  and  Meshad  AH,  where 
their  martyr-saints  are  buried.  Pilgrimages  to  tombs  of 
local  saints  and  ancient  prophets,  to  '*foot-prints"  of  the 
Apostle,  or  to  graves  of  his  companions  are  exceedingly 
common.  But  none  of  these  pilgrimages  equal  in  merit 
that  to  the  House  of  God  in  Mecca.  In  conclusion,  it  is 
necessary  to  state  that  the  two  sacred  cities  of  Islam, 
Mecca  and  Medina,  are  hotbeds  of  every  form  of  immor- 
ality, and,  by  the  witness  of  Moslems  themselves,  sink- 
holes of  iniquity  and  dens  of  robbers.^ 

Other  Religious  Practices. — In  addition  to  what  is  said 
about  these  ''five  pillars"  of  the  faith,  a  word  is  necessary 
regarding  certain  other  Moslem  practices,  if  we  are  to 
complete  the  sketch  of  every-day  religion. 

(a)  Circumcision,  although  not  once  alluded  to  in  the 
Koran,  is  the  initiative  rite  among  all  Moslems  every- 
where, and  in  that  respect  it  corresponds  somewhat  to 
baptism.  Its  performance  is  attended  with  religious  fes- 
tivities, and  its  omission  is  equivalent  to  a  denial  of  the 
faith.  Its  observance  is  founded  upon  tradition,  i.e.,  the 
custom  of  Mohammed.  The  abominable  practice  of  fe- 
male circumcision  (mutilation)  is  common  in  many  Mos- 
lem lands,  and  is  also  founded  on  the  precept  of  Mo- 
hammed.^ 

(b)  Feasts  and  Festivals. — The  two  great  feast  days  of 
Islam  are  the  'Idu-l-Fitr,  or  the  first  day  after  Ramazan, 
when  the  long  fast  is  broken,  and  the  'Id-ul-Acha,  or 
Bairam,  the  great  feast,  which  is  the  Feast  of  Sacrifice. 

The  first  of  these  feasts  is  especially  a  time  for  rejoic- 
es. M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  30-52. 
2F.  A.  Klein  "The  Religion  of  Islam,"  131. 


114  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

ing  and  alms-giving.  Special  public  prayer  is  held  and 
a  sermon  delivered  to  the  vast  assemblies  in  the  open  air. 
All  wear  their  best  dress,  generally  new  clothing,  and 
even  the  women  don  all  their  jewels  while  they  celebrate 
the  feast  in  the  Zenana  or  the  Harem  with  amusements 
and  indulgences. 

The  Feast  of  Sacrifice  is  observed  by  animal  sacrifices 
in  addition,  and  these  are  really  a  part  of  the  rite  of  the 
Meccan  pilgrimage,  but  the  feast  is  simultaneously  cele- 
brated everywhere.  It  is  held  in  commemoration  of 
Abraham's  willingness  to  sacrifice  Isaac,  or,  as  the  Mos- 
lems believe,  Ishmael. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  and  an  enigma  that  while  Mo- 
hammed professed  to  abrogate  the  Jewish  ritual  and 
ignored  the  doctrine  of  an  atonement,  even  denying  the 
fact  of  our  Saviour's  crucifixion,  he  yet  made  the  Day 
of  Sacrifice  the  great  central  festival  of  his  religion. 

(c)  Jihad. — It  is  unaccountable  why  this  greatest  force 
in  Islam,  religious  warfare,  or  Jihad,  is  not  mentioned 
as  a  pillar  of  religion.  A  religious  war  against  infidels 
is  a  duty  plainly  taught  by  the  Koran  and  by  tradition, 
e.g. :  ''Kill  those  who  join  other  gods  w4th  God,  wherever 
ye  shall  find  them."^  And  a  dozen  other  passages  com- 
mand believers  to  make  war,  to  kill,  and  to  fight  in  the 
path  of  God.  Some  apologists  for  Islam — T.  W.  Arnold, 
Saiyad  Ameer  Ali,  and  others — attempt  to  avoid  the  fact 
of  an  appeal  to  use  the  sword  by  interpreting  these  pas- 
sages in  a  semi-spiritual  way,  and  they  even  try  to  make 
Jihad  mean  a  sort  of  Christian  Endeavor  Society  for 
propagating  Islam !  To  this  Marcus  Dods  replies :  **The 
man  must  shut  his  eyes  to  the  broadest  and  most  con- 
spicuous facts  of  the  history  of  Islam  who  denies  that 

^Surah  9:5. 


THE   RITUAL   OF    ISLAM  II5 

the  sword  has  been  the  great  means  of  propagating  this 
rehgion.  Until  Mohammed  appealed  to  the  sword  his 
faith  made  very  little  way."  The  history  of  the  Wahabis 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Armenian  massacres,  the 
Mahdis  of  the  Soudan  and  of  Somali-land,  and  the  almost 
universal  hope  among  Moslems  to  use  the  power  of  the 
sword  again — all  these  are  proofs  that  Jihad  is  one  of  the 
religious  forces  of  Mohammedanism  which  Christendom 
cannot  afford  to  ignore.  The  sword  is  in  its  sheath,  but 
the  giant  still  wears  it  at  his  side,  and  it  has  never  been 
rusty. 

Only  last  year  the  Arabic  paper,  Ec-Zahir,  published  in 
Egypt,  said:  "Has  the  time  not  come  yet  when  uniting 
the  suppressed  wailings  of  India  with  our  own  groans 
and  sighs  in  Egypt,  we  should  say  to  each  other,  Come, 
let  us  be  one,  following  the  Divine  words,  'V^ictory  be- 
longs to  the  united  forces'  ?  Certainly  the  time  has  come 
when  we,  India  and  Egypt,  should  cut  and  tear  asunder 
the  ties  of  the  yoke  imposed  on  us  by  the  English."  On 
the  other  hand,  Mohammed  Husain,  the  editor  of  a  paper 
at  Lahore,  wrote  a  Treatise  on  Jihad  (1893),  stating: 
"The  present  treatise  on  the  question  of  Jihad  has  been 
compiled  for  two  reasons.  My  first  object  is  that  the 
IMohammedans,  ignorant  of  the  texts  bearing  on  Jihad 
and  the  conditions  of  Islam,  may  become  acquainted  with 
them,  and  that  they  may  not  labor  under  the  misappre- 
hension that  it  is  their  religious  duty  to  wage  war  against 
another  people  solely  because  that  people  is  opposed  to 
Islam.  Thus  they,  by  ascertaining  the  fixed  conditions 
and  texts,  may  be  saved  forever  from  rebellion,  and  may 
not  sacrifice  their  lives  and  property  fruitlessly  nor  un- 
justly shed  the  blood  of  others.  My  second  object  is  that 
non-Mohammedans   and   the   government   under    whose 


Ii6  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

protection  the  Mohammedans  Hve,  may  not  suspect 
Mohammedans  of  thinking  that  it  is  lawful  for  us  to 
fight  against  non-Mohammedans,  or  that  it  is  our  duty  to 
interfere  with  the  life  and  property  of  others,  or  that  we 
are  bound  to  convert  others  forcibly  to  Mohammedanism, 
or  to  spread  Islam  by  means  of  the  sword." 

So  the  question  of  "religion  and  the  sword"  is  still  an 
open  one  among  Moslems.  It  must  needs  be  so  long  as 
they  obey  the  Koran  and  Tradition,  for  Mohammed  said : 
''He  who  dies  and  has  not  fought  for  the  religion  of 
Islam,  nor  has  even  said  in  his  heart,  'Would  to  God  I 
were  a  champion  that  could  die  in  the  road  of  God,'  is 
even  as  a  hypocrite."  And  again,  still  more  forcibly: 
"The  fire  of  hell  shall  not  touch  the  legs  of  him  who  is 
covered  with  the  dust  of  battle  in  the  road  of  God."  In 
spite  of  cruelty,  bloodshed,  dissension  and  deceit,  the 
story  of  the  Moslem  conquest  with  the  sword  of  Jihad 
is  full  of  heroism  and  inspiration. 

If  so  much  was  done  in  the  name  of  Mohammed,  what 
should  we  not  dare  do  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  with- 
out carnal  w-eapons,  to  carry  Plis  gospel  and  the  practical 
precepts  of  His  religion  to  every  Moslem  people,  who  are 
groaning  under  the  intolerable  burden  of  the  "five  pil- 
lars" of  practice,  a  yoke  which  neither  they  nor  their 
fathers  were  able  to  bear. 


THE  ETHICS  OF  ISLAM 


"Mohammedanism  is  held,  by  many  who  have  to  live  under 
its  shadow,  to  be  the  most  degraded  religion,  morally,  in  the 
world.  We  speak  of  it  as  superior  to  the  other  religions,  be- 
cause of  its  monotheistic  faith,  but  I  would  rather  believe  in 
ten  pure  gods  than  in  one  God  who  would  have  for  His  supreme 
prophet  and  representative  a  man  with  Mohammed's  moral  char- 
acter. Missionaries  from  India  will  tell  you  that  the  actual  mor- 
al conditions  to  be  found  among  Mohammedans  there  are  more 
terrible  than  those  to  be  found  among  the  pantheistic  Hindus 
themselves,  and  the  late  Dr.  Cochran,  of  Persia,  a  man  who  had 
unsurpassed  opportunities  for  seeing  the  inner  life  of  Moham- 
medan men,  told  me,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  that  he  could 
not  say,  out  of  his  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  as  a  doctor 
with  the  men  of  Persia,  that  he  had  ever  met  one  pure-hearted 
or  pure-lived  adult  man  among  the  Mohammedans  of  Persia. 
Can  a  religion  of  immorality,  or  moral  inferiority,  meet  the 
needs  of  struggling  men?" — Robert  E.  Speer. 


VI 

THE  ETHICS  OF  ISLAM 

Basis  of  Moslem  Ethics, — Martensen  defines  Christian 
ethics  as  **the  science  of  morals  conditioned  by  Christian- 
ity." If  we  use  the  same  definition  for  Mohammedan 
ethics,  we  already  know  from  the  two  previous  chapters 
what  articles  of  faith  and  religious  conceptions  of  duty 
are  behind  the  moral-teaching  of  Islam  and  fundamental 
to  it. 

The  three  fundamental  concepts  of  Christian  ethics  are 
all  of  them  challenged  by  the  teaching  of  Islam.  The 
Mohammedan  idea  of  the  Highest  Good,  of  Virtue  and 
of  the  Moral  Law  are  not  in  accord  with  those  of  Chris- 
tianity. 'The  highest  good  is  the  very  outwardly  and 
very  sensuously  conceived  happiness  of  the  individual." 
Ideal  virtue  is  to  be  found  through  imitation  of  Mo- 
hammed. And  the  moral  law  is  practically  abrogated 
because  of  loose  views  as  to  its  real  character,  its  teach- 
ing and  finality. 

Its  Real  Character. — "Islam,"  says  Adolph  Wuttke,  in 
his  system  of  ethics,  "finds  its  place  in  the  history  of  the 
religious  and  moral  spirit  not  as  a  vital  organic  member, 
but  as  violently  interrupting  the  course  of  this  history, 
and  which  is  to  be  regarded  as  an  attempt  of  heathenism 
to  maintain  itself  erect  under  an  outward  monotheistic 
form  against  Christianity. 

119 


120  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

''The  ethics  of  Islam  bear  the  character  of  an  out- 
wardly and  crudely  conceived  doctrine  of  righteousness ; 
conscientiousness  in  the  sphere  of  the  social  relations, 
faithfulness  to  conviction  and  to  one's  word,  and  the 
bringing  of  an  action  into  relation  to  God,  are  its  bright 
points ;  but  there  is  a  lack  of  heart-depth,  of  a  basing  of 
the  moral  in  love.  The  highest  good  is  the  very  out- 
wardly and  very  sensuously  conceived  happiness  of  the 
individual.  The  potency  of  sin  is  not  recognized ;  evil 
is  only  an  individual,  not  an  historical  power ;  hence 
there  is  no  need  of  redemption,  but  only  of  personal 
works  on  the  basis  of  prophetic  instruction ;  Mohammed 
is  only  a  teacher,  not  an  atoner.  God  and  man  remain 
strictly  external  to,  and  separate  from,  each  other;  God 
— no  less  individually  conceived  of  than  man — comes  into 
no  real  communion  with  man ;  and  man,  as  moral,  acts 
not  as  influenced  by  such  a  communion,  but  only  as  an 
isolated  individual.  .  .  .  Man  has  nothing  to  receive 
from  God  but  the  Word,  and  nothing  to  do  for  God 
but  good  works ;  of  inner  sanctification  there  is  no 
thought;  the  essential  point  is  simply  to  let  the  per  se 
good  nature  of  man  manifest  itself  in  works ;  there  is  no 
inner  struggle  in  order  to  attain  to  the  true  life,  no  peni- 
tence-struggle against  inner  sinfulness;  and  instead  of 
true  humility  we  find  only  proud  work-righteousness. 
To  the  natural  propensities  of  man  there  is  consequently 
but  little  refused — nothing  but  the  enjoyment  of  wine,  of 
swine-flesh,  of  blood,  of  strangled  animals,  and  of  games 
of  chance,  and  this,  too,  for  insuf^cient  (assigned)  rea- 
sons. The  merely  individual  character  of  the  morality 
manifests  itself  especially  in  the  low  conception  that  is 
formed  of  marriage,  in  which  polygamy  is  expressly  con- 
ceded, woman  degraded  to  a  very  low  position,  and  the 


THE    ETHICS   OF    ISLAM  121 

dissolution  of  the  marriage  bond  placed  in  the  unlimited 
discretion  of  the  man ;  there  hence  results  a  very  super- 
ficial view  of  the  family  in  general ;  the  moral  community- 
life  is  conceived  of  throughout  in  a  very  crude  manner. 
Unquestionably  this  form  of  ethics  is  not  an  advancing 
on  the  part  of  humanity,  but  a  guilty  retrograding  from 
that  which  had  already  been  attained."^ 

After  this  philosophical  summary  of  the  real  character 
of  Mohammedan  Ethics,  an  account  of  its  practical  teach- 
ing and  effect  will  make  the  picture  more  vivid,  altho  still 
darker. 

The  Moslem  Idea  of  Sin. — Moslem  doctors  define  sin 
as  "a  conscious  act  of  a  responsible  being  against  known 
law."  Wherefore  sins  of  ignorance  and  of  childhood 
are  not  reckoned  as  real  sin.  They  divide  sin  into  "great" 
and  ''little"  sins.  Some  say  there  are  seven  great  sins : 
idolatry,  murder,  false  charge  of  adultery,  wasting  the 
substance  of  orphans,  taking  interest  on  money,  desertion 
from  Jihad  and  disobedience  to  parents !  Others  say 
there  are  seventeen,  and  include  wine-drinking,  witchcraft 
and  perjury  among  them.  Mohammed  himself  said :  'The 
greatest  of  sins  before  God  is  that  you  call  another  like 
unto  the  God  who  created  you,  or  that  you  murder  your 
child  from  an  idea  that  it  will  eat  your  victuals,  or  that 
you  commit  adultery  with  your  neighbor's  wife."-  All 
sins  except  ''great"  ones  are  easily  forgiven,  as  God  is 
merciful  and  clement.  The  words  permitted  {hallal)  and 
forbidden  (haram)  have  superseded  the  terms  for  guilt 
and  transgression.  Nothing  is  right  or  wrong  by  nature, 
but  becomes  such  by  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty.  What 
Allah  or  his  Prophet  forbids  is  sin,  even  should  he  forbid 

^Adolf  Wuttke,  "Christian  Ethics,"  Vol.  I,   172. 
2Mishkat,  Book  I,  Chap.  2. 


122  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

what  seems  right  to  the  conscience.  What  Allah  allows 
is  not  sin  and  cannot  be  sin  at  the  time  He  allows  it, 
though  it  may  have  been  before  or  after.  One  has  only 
to  argue  the  matter  of  polygamy  with  any  intelligent 
Moslem  to  have  the  above  statement  confirmed.  There 
is  no  clear  distinction  between  the  ceremonial  and  the 
moral  law  implied  in  the  Koran.  It  is  as  great  an  offence 
to  pray  with  unwashed  hands  as  to  tell  a  lie,  and  "pious" 
Moslems,  who  nightly  break  the  seventh  commandment 
(even  according  to  their  own  lax  interpretation  of  it) 
will  shrink  from  a  tin  of  English  meat,  for  fear  they  be 
defiled  eating  swine's  flesh.  The  lack  of  all  distinction 
between  the  ceremonial  and  the  moral  law  is  very  evi- 
dent in  the  traditional  sayings  of  Mohammed,  which  are, 
of  course,  at  the  basis  of  ethics.  Take  one  example: 
''The  Prophet,  upon  whom  be  prayers  and  peace,  said. 
One  dirhcm  of  usury  which  a  man  takes  knowing  it  to  be 
so  is  more  grievous  than  thirty-six  fornications,  and  who- 
soever has  done  so  is  worthy  of  hell-fire."^ 

One  cannot  read  the  Koran  without  coming  to  the  con- 
clusion that  according  to  its  teaching  Allah  himself  does 
not  appear  hound  by  any  standard  of  justice.  For  ex- 
ample, the  worship  of  the  creature  is  heinous  to  the  Mos- 
lem mind,  yet  Allah  punished  Satan  for  not  being  willing 
to  worship  Adam.^  Allah  is  merciful  in  winking  at  the 
sins  of  His  favorites  (the  prophets  and  those  who  fight 
His  battles),  but  is  the  quick  avenger  of  all  infidels  and 
idolaters.  The  moral  law  changes  according  to  times  and 
circumstances.  God  can  do  what  He  pleases.  The  Koran 
often  asserts  this.  Not  only  physically  but  morally  He  is 
almighty,  in  the  Moslem  sense  of  the  word.     Allah,  the 

^S.   M.   Zwemer,   "Moslem   Doctrine  of   God,"   52, 
^Surah  2:28-31. 


THE   ETHICS   OF   ISLAM  123 

Koran  says,  is  the  best  plotter.  Allah  mocks  and  deceives. 
Allah  "makes  it  easy''  for  those  who  follow  Mohammed.^ 
The  Low  Ideal  of  Character  in  Islam. — A  stream  can- 
not rise  higher  than  its  source ;  a  tower  cannot  be  broader 
than  its  foundation.  The  measure  of  the  moral  stature 
of  Mohammed  is  the  source  and  foundation  of  all  moral 
ideals  in  Islam.  His  conduct  is  the  standard  of  character. 
We  need  not  be  surprised,  therefore,  that  the  ethical 
standard  is  so  low.  Raymund  Lull,  the  first  missionary 
to  Moslems,  used  to  show  in  his  bold  preaching  that 
Mohammed  had  none  of  the  seven  cardinal  virtues  and 
was  guilty  of  the  seven  deadly  sins ;  he  doubtless  went 
too  far.  But  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  pride, 
lust,  envy  and  anger  were  prominent  traits  in  the 
Prophet's  character.  To  read  the  pages  of  Muir  or 
Koelle  or  Sprenger  is  convincing.- 

^Surahs  8:29;   3:53:  27:51;   86:15;    16:4;    14:15;  9:51- 

^The  following  instances,  taken  from  Koelle,  "Mohammed  and  Moham- 
medanism,"  are   sufficient   proof: 

"The  first  to  fall  as  victims  of  Mohammed's  vengeance  were  some  indi- 
viduals of  the  Jewish  persuasion  who  had  made  themselves  obnoxious  above 
others  by  attacking  him  in  verse.  He  managed  to  produce  an  impression 
amongst  the  people  that  he  would  like  to  be  rid  of  them.  The  hint  was  read- 
ily taken  up  by  persons  anxious  to  ingratiate  themselves  in  the  prophet's 
favor.  The  gifted  woman,  Asma,  and  the  hoary  poet,  Abu  Afak,  were  both 
murdered  in  their  sleep:  the  former  while  slumbering  on  her  bed,  with  an 
infant  in  her  arms;  the  latter  whilst  lying,  for  coolness'  sake,  in  an  open 
verandah.  No  one  dared  to  molest  the  assassin  of  either  of  these  victims; 
for  it  was  no  secret  that  the  foul  deeds  had  been  approved  by  the  prophet, 
and  that  he  had  treated  the  perpetrators  with  marked  favor."     (P.   i6g.) 

Another  instance  is  as  follows:  "One  of  their  more  influential  Rabbis 
was  Kab  Ibn  Ashraf,  who  had  looked  favorably  upon  Mohammed,  till  he 
changed  the  Kibla  from  Jerusalem  to  Mecca.  Then  he  became  his  de- 
cided opponent,  attacking  him  and  his  religion  in  verse,  and  working 
against  him  in  various  ways.  He  was  first  to  fall  as  a  victim  to  Moham- 
med's vindictiveness.  The  prophet  despatched  four  men,  amongst  them 
Kab's  own  foster-brother,  to  assassinate  him,  and  sanctioned  beforehand 
sny  lie  or  stratagem  which  they  might  see  fit  to  employ,  so  as  to  lure 
him  aside.  It  was  dark  when  they  arrived  at  his  house,  and  he  was  al- 
ready in  bed;  but  they  cunningly  prevailed  upon  him  to  come  out  to 
them,  and  when  they  had  him  alone  in  the  dark  they  foully  murdered  him. 


124  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

And  to  take  another  example,  what  did  Mohammed 
teach  regarding  truthfulness?  There  are  two  authenti- 
cated sayings  of  his  given  in  the  traditions  on  the  subject 
of  lying:  "When  a  servant  of  God  tells  a  lie,  his  guar- 
dian angels  move  away  to  the  distance  of  a  mile  because 
of  the  badness  of  its  smell."  That  seems  a  characteristic 
denunciation ;  but  the  other  saying  contradicts  it :  "Verily 
a  lie  is  allowable  in  three  cases — to  women,  to  reconcile 
friends,  and  in  war."^  The  dastardly  assassination," 
says  Muir,  "of  his  political  and  religious  opponents,  coun- 
tenanced and  frequently  directed  as  they  were  in  all  their 
cruel  and  perfidious  details  by  Mohammed  himself,  leaves 
a   dark   and   indelible   blot   upon   his   character."     With 

Mohammed  remained  up,  to  await  their  return;  and  when  they  showed  him 
Kab's  head,  he  commended  their  deed,  and  praised  Allah.  But  on  the 
following  morning,  when  the  assassination  had  become  generally  known, 
the  Jews,  as  Ibn  Ishak  informs  us,  were  struck  with  terror,  and  none  of 
them  regarded  his  life  safe  any  longer."    (P.   172.) 

Further  on  we  read:  "But,  some  time  before  it  was  actually  carried  out, 
the  inhabitants  of  Khaibar  were  horrified  by  one  of  the  dastardly  assassina- 
tions to  which  Mohammed  did  not  scruple  to  stoop,  for  the  purposes  of 
revenge.  The  victim  selected  this  time  was  Sallam,  a  leading  man  of  the 
Beni  Nadhir  who,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  tribe  from  Medina,  had  set- 
tled in  Khaibar  and  enjoyed  great  influence  there.  He  was  accused  of 
having  had  a  hand  in  stirring  up  the  Meccans  to  the  war  in  which  they 
laid  siege  to  Medina.  Mohammed  never  had  any  difficulty  in  finding, 
amongst  his  followers,  willing  tools  for  executing  such  secret  missions. 
Ibn  Ishak  mentions  it  as  one  of  the  Divine  favors  to  Mohammed,  that 
'the  two  tribes  of  the  Awsites  and  Khazrajites  were  as  jealous  about  his 
head  as  two  male  camels.'  Accordingly,  as  the  former  had  assassinated 
Kab  bin  Ashraf,  the  latter  aspired  after  an  equal  distinction,  and  asked  the 
prophet's  permission,  which  was  gladly  given,  to  do  away  with  Sallam. 
Five  Khazrajites,  one  of  whom  Mohammed  had  appointed  chief  for  the  oc- 
casion, reached  Khaibar  after  dark  and,  professing  to  have  come  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  corn,  were  admitted  to  Sallam's  upper  apartment,  where 
he  was  already  lying  on  his  bed.  But,  as  soon  as  they  had  him  thus  in 
their  power,  they  fell  upon  him  with  their  daggers  and  massacred  the  de- 
fenceless man,  without  the  slightest  shame  or  compunction.  By  the  time 
the  startled  Jews  came  to  see  what  had  happened,  the  assassins  had  de- 
camped and  were  on  their  v/ay  to  their  master,  to  receive  his  thanks." 
(P.    179.) 

'S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Moslem  Doctrines  of  God,"  41.  El  Hidayah,  Vol.  IV, 
81, 


THE    ETHICS   OF   ISLAM  12$ 

such  a  prophet  it  is  no  wonder  that  among  his  followers 
and  imitators  "truth-telling  is  one  of  the  lost  arts,"  and 
that  perjury  is  too  common  to  be  noticed.  Since  I\Io- 
hammed  gathered  ideas  and  stories  from  the  Jews  of 
Medina  and  palmed  them  off  as  a  new  revelation  from 
God,  it  is  no  wonder  that  Arabian  literature  teems  with 
all  sorts  of  plagiarisms,^  or  that  one  of  the  early  authori- 
ties of  Islam  laid  down  the  canon  that  it  is  justifiable  to 
lie  in  praise  of  the  Prophet.  In  regard  to  the  Mohamme- 
dans of  Persia,  Dr.  St.  Clair  Tisdall  says:  "Lying  has 
been  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  a  fine  art,  owing  to  the 
doctrine  of  Kitman-tid-din,  wdiich  is  held  by  the  Shiah 
religious  community. "- 

Islam  and  the  Decalogue. — According  to  a  remarkable 
tradition,^  Mohammed  was  contused  as  to  the  number 
and  character  of  the  commandments  given  Moses.  "A 
Jew  came  to  the  Prophet  and  asked  him  about  the  nine 
(sic)  w^onders  wdiich  appeared  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 
The  Prophet  said :  "Do  not  associate  anything  with  God, 
do  not  steal,  do  not  commit  adultery,  do  not  kill,  do  not 
take  an  innocent  before  the  king  to  be  killed,  do  not  prac- 
tice magic,  do  not  take  interest,  do  not  accuse  an  innocent 
woman  of  adultery,  do  not  run  away  in  battle,  and  espe- 
cially for  you,  O  Jews,  not  to  work  on  the  Sabbath." 

The  lax  and  immoral  interpretation  by  Moslem  theolo- 
gians of  the  Third,  Sixth,  Seventh,  Eighth  and  Ninth 
commandments  of  the  decalogue  are  very  evident.  But 
that  interpretation  is  based  on  the  Koran  itself,  which  is 
full  of  the  vain  use  of  God's  name  and  needless  oaths, 
wdiich  permits  murder  in  Jihad,  which  allows  polygamy, 
divorce  and  the  capture  of  slaves.     How  Mohammed  re- 

^See   Brockelmann,   "Geschichte  der  Arabischen   Literatur,"   Introduction. 
2''The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"   117. 
3Mishkat,  Book  I,  Chap.  II,  Part  II. 


126  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

garded  the  Tenth  commandment  is  plain  from  the  story 
of  Zainab/ 

There  are  certain  things  which  the  ethics  of  Islam 
allow  of  which  it  is  also  necessary  to  write.  They  exist 
not  in  spite  of  Islam,  but  because  of  Islam  and  beeause 
of  the  teaching  of  its  Sacred  Book. 

Polygamy,  Divorce  and  Slavery. — These  three  evils  are 
so  closely  intertv/ined  with  the  Mohammedan  religion — 
its  book  and  its  Prophet — that  they  can  never  be  wholly 
abandoned  without  doing  violence  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Koran  and  the  example  of  Mohammed.  In  Moslem  books 
of  theology,  jurisprudence  and  ethics  there  are  long  chap- 
ters on  each  of  these  subjects.  Nor  can  there  be  the 
least  doubt  that  polygamy  and  slavery  have  had  a  tre- 
mendous power  in  the  spread  and  grasp  of  Islam.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  history  that  the  slave-traders  of  Zanzi- 
bar were  also  the  missionaries  of  Islam,  in  darkest  Africa ; 
and  the  last  census  report  of  Bengal  states  that  the  in- 
crease of  the  Mohammedan  population  there  is  due,  not 
to  conversions  from  Hinduism,  but  to  polygamy  and  con- 
cubinage as  open  doors  into  a  higher  caste  for  submerged 
Hindu  womanhood.  We  must  also  consider  that  the 
loose  moral  code  of  Islam  is  ever  an  attraction  to  the  un- 
regenerate. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  here,  even  in  outline,  the  true 
character,  extent  and  effect  of  these  three  * 'religious  in- 
stitutions" of  Islam.  A  Moslem  who  lives  up  to  his 
privileges  and  who  follows  the  example  of  "the  saints"  in 
his  calendar  can  have  four  wives  and  any  number  of 
slave-concubines ;  can  divorce  at  his  pleasure ;  he  can  re- 
marry his  divorced  wives  by  a  special  though  abominable 
arrangement ;  and,  in  addition  to  all  this,  if  he  belong  to 

'See  Surah  33:37. 


i^^\i\^ 


THE    ETHICS    OF    ISLAM  12/ 

the  Shiah  sect  he  can  contract  marriages  for  fun 
(Metaa),  which  are  temporary. 

As  Robert  E.  Speer  said  at  the  Student  Volunteer  con- 
vention at  Nashville,  1906:  *'The  very  chapter  in  the 
Mohammedan  Bible  which  deals  with  the  legal  status  of 
woman,  and  which  provides  that  every  Mohammedan  may 
have  four  legal  wives,  and  as  many  concubines  or  slave 
girls  as  his  right  hand  can  hold,  goes  by  the  title  in  the 
Koran  itself  of  The  Cow'."^  Altho,  of  course,  the  title 
of  the  chapter  was  not  given  it  for  that  reason. 

The  degrading  views  held  as  regards  the  whole  mar- 
riage relation  are  summed  up  by  Ghazzali  when  he  says : 
''Marriage  is  a  kind  of  slavery,  for  the  wife  becomes  the 
slave  (rakeek)  of  her  husband,  and  it  is  her  duty  abso- 
lutely to  obey  him  in  everything  he  requires  of  her  except 
in  what  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Islam."  Wife-beating 
is  allowed  by  the  Koran,  and  the  method  and  limitations 
are  explained  by  the  laws  of  religion.^ 

The  Slave-Trade. — Arabia,  the  cradle  of  Islam,  is  still 
a  centre  of  the  slave-trade,  and,  according  to  the  Koran, 
slavery  and  the  slave-trade  are  divine  institutions.  Some 
Moslem  apologists  of  the  present  day  contend  that  Mo- 
hammed looked  upon  the  custom  as  temporary  in  its  na- 
ture ;  but  slavery  is  so  interwoven  with  the  laws  of  mar- 
riage, of  sale,  of  inheritance,  and  with  the  whole  social 
fabric,  that  its  abolition  strikes  at  the  foundations  of  their 
legal  code.  Whenever  and  wherever  Moslem  rulers  have 
agreed  to  the  abolition  or  suppression  of  the  slave-trade 
they  have  acted  contrary  to  the  privileges  of  their  relig- 
ion in  consenting  to  obey  the  laws  of  humanity.     From 

^In  Turkey  the  word  "cow"  is  actually  applied  to  women  by  the  Mos- 
lems.    "Our   Moslem   Sisters/'    198. 

2See  F.  A.  Klein,  "The  Religion  of  Islam,"  190;  and  Moslem  Commen- 
taries on  Surah  4:38. 


128  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

the  Koran  we  learn^  that  all  male  and  female  slaves 
taken  as  plunder  in  war  are  the  lawful  property  of  the 
master,  that  the  master  has  power  to  take  to  himself  any 
female  slave,  either  married  or  single,  as  his  chattel ;  that 
the  position  of  a  slave  is  as  helpless  as  that  of  the  stone 
idols  of  old  Arabia;  and  that,  while  a  man  can  do  as  he 
pleases  with  his  property,  slaves  should  be  treated  kindly 
and  granted  freedom  when  able  to  purchase  it.  Slave- 
traffic  is  not  only  allowed,  but  legislated  for  by  Moham- 
medan law  and  made  sacred  by  the  example  of  the 
Prophet.-  in  Moslem  books  of  law  the  same  rules  apply 
to  the  sale  of  animals  and  slaves. 

In  1898  the  late  J.  Theodore  Bent  wrote  respecting  the 
slave-trade  in  the  Red  Sea :  "The  west  coast  of  the  Red 
Sea  is  in  portions  still  much  given  to  slave-trading.  From 
Suez  down  to  Ras  Benas  the  coast  is  pretty  well  protected 
by  government  boats,  which  cruise  about  and  seize  dhows 
suspected  of  traffic  in  human  flesh,  but  south  of  this,  until 
the  area  of  Suakin  is  reached,  slave-trading  is  still  active- 
ly carried  on.  The  transport  is  done  in  dhows  from  the 
Arabian  coast,  which  come  over  to  the  coral  reefs  of  the 
western  side  ostensibly  for  pearl  fishing.  At  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year  slave-traders  in  caravans  come  down 
from  the  derwish  territory  in  the  Nile  valley,  and  the  petty 
Bedouin  sheiks  on  the  Red  Sea  littoral  connive  at  and 
assist  them  in  the  work." 

Dr.  C.  Snouck  Hurgronje  describes  the  public  slave- 
market  at  ]\Iecca  in  full  swing  every  day  during  his  visit. 
It  is  located  near  Bab  Derebah  and  the  holy  mosque,  and 
open  to  everybody.  Altho  he  himself  apologizes  for  the 
traffic,  and  calls  the  anti-slavery  crusade  a  swindle,  he  yet 

^Surahs  4:3;  28:40;  23-49;   16:77;  30:27;  24:33,  etc. 
^Mishkat,  Book  XIII,  Chap.  20. 


THE    ETHICS   OF    ISLAM  129 

confesses  to  all  the  horrible  details  in  the  sale  of  female 
slaves,  and  the  mutilation  of  male  slaves  for  the  markets. 
Eunuchs  are  plentiful,  and  are  specially  imported  to  act 
as  guards  for  mosques;  they  can  be  bought  for  $120 
apiece.^ 

The  explorer,  Charles  M.  Doughty,  who  spent  years  in 
the  interior  of  /Arabia,  wrote :  "Jiddah  is  the  staple  town 
of  African  slavery  for  the  Turkish  empire ;  Jiddah,  where 
are  Prankish  Consuls.  But  you  shall  find  these  worthies, 
in  the  pallid  solitude  of  their  palaces,  affecting  (great 
Heaven!)  the  simplicity  of  new-born  babes;  they  will  tell 
you  they  are  not  aware  of  it!  .  .  .  But  I  say  again 
in  your  ingenuous  ears,  Jiddah  is  the  staple  town  of  the 
Turkish  slavery,  or  all  the  Moslems  are  liars.  .  .  . 
I  told  them  we  had  a  treaty  with  the  Sultan  to  suppress 
slavery.  "Dog,"  cries  the  fellow,  "thou  liar — are  there  not 
thousands  of  slaves  at  Jiddah  that  every  day  are  bought 
and  sold?  Wherefore,  thou  dog,  be  they  not  all  made 
free  if  thou  say  est  sooth  ?"- 

The  Social  Bankruptcy  of  Islam. — A  system  forever 
handicapped  in  any  effort  toward  social  progress  by  the 
incubus  of  such  gigantic  evils,  sanctioned  in  their 
Prophet's  life  and  in  his  book,  could  not  escape  social 
bankruptcy.  Islam  has  been  on  trial  for  thirteen  cen- 
turies.    "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

It  has  often  been  asserted  that  Islam  is  the  proper  re- 
ligion for  Arabia.  The  miserable,  half-starved,  ignorant 
but  canny  Bedouins  now  say:  "Mohammed's  religion  can 
never  have  been  intended  for  us ;  it  demands  ablution,  but 
we  have  no  water;  fasting,  but  we  always  fast;  almsgiv- 
ing, but  we  have  no  money;  pilgrimage,  but  Allah  is 
everywhere."     Islam  has  had  fair  trial  in  other  than  des- 

i"Mekka."  Vol.   II,  15-24.  ^-^j^j-abia  Deserta,"   Vol.   II,  last  chapter. 


130  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

ert  lands.  For  five  hundred  years  it  has  been  supreme  in 
Turkey,  the  fairest  and  richest  portion  of  the  Old  World. 
And  what  is  the  result?  The  Mohammedan  population 
has  decreased ;  the  treasury  is  bankrupt ;  progress  is 
blocked ;  ''instead  of  wealth,  universal  poverty ;  instead  of 
comeliness,  rags;  instead  of  commerce,  beggary — a  fail- 
ure greater  and  more  absolute  than  history  can  elsewhere 
present."^  In  regard  to  what  Islam  has  done  and  can 
do  in  Africa,  the  recent  testimony  of  Canon  Robinson  is 
conclusive.  Writing  of  Mohammedanism  in  the  central 
Soudan,  he  says : 

''Moreover,  if  it  be  true,  as  it  probably  is  to  some  ex- 
tent, that  Mohammedanism  has  helped  forward  the 
Hausas  in  the  path  of  civilization,  the  assistance  rendered 
here,  as  in  every  other  country  subject  to  Mohammedan 
rule,  is  by  no  means  an  unmixed  good.  Mohammedan 
progress  is  progress  up  an  impasse;  it  enables  converts  to 
advance  a  certain  distance,  only  to  check  their  further 
progress  by  an  impassable  wall  of  blind  prejudice  and 
ignorance.  We  cannot  have  a  better  proof  of  this  state- 
ment than  the  progress,  or  rather,  want  of  progress,  in 
Arabia,  the  home  of  Mohammedanism,  during  the  last 
thousand  years.  Palgrave,  who  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  among  Mohammedans,  and  who  was  so  far  in 
sympathy  with  them  that  on  more  than  one  occasion  he 
conducted  service  for  them  in  their  mosques,  speaking  of 
Arabia,  says:  'When  the  Koran  and  Mecca  shall  have 
disappeared  from  Arabia,  then,  and  only  then,  can  we 
expect  to  see  the  Arab  assume  that  place  in  the  ranks  of 
civilization  from  which  Mohammed  and  his  book  have, 
more  than  any  other  cause,  long  held  him  back.'  " 

^Cyrus  Hamlin,   "Five   Hundred   Years  of  Islam  in  Turkey."     American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  1888. 


THE   ETHICS   OF   ISLAM  I3I 

And  Professor  A.  Vambery,  speaking  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  political  independence  for  Egypt,  says:  *'I  am 
the  last  to  wish  to  blacken  the  leaders  of  Mohammedan 
society,  but  I  beg  leave  to  ask :  Does  there  exist  a  Moham- 
medan government  where  the  deep-seated  evil  of  tyranny, 
anarchy,  misrule  and  utter  collapse  does  not  offer  the 
most  appalling  picture  of  human  caducity?"^ 

Moslem  Ethics  a  Plea  for  Missions. — When  Canon 
Taylor  and  Dr.  Blyden,  some  years  ago,  published  their 
extravagant  glorifications  of  Islam,  Mr.  R.  Bosworth 
Smith  accused  them  of  plagiarism  from  his  life  of  Mo- 
hammed, and  subsequently,  in  an  address  before  the  fel- 
lows of  Zion's  College,  on  February  21,  1888,  he  said: 
"The  resemblances  between  the  two  creeds  are  indeed 
many  and  striking,  as  I  have  implied  throughout;  but  if 
I  may  once  more  quote  a  few  words  which  I  have  used 
elsewhere  in  dealing  with  this  question,  the  contrasts  are 
even  more  striking  than  the  resemblances.  The  religion 
of  Christ  contains  whole  fields  of  morality  and  whole 
realms  of  thought  which  are  all  but  outside  the  religion  of 
Mohammed.     It  opens  humility,-   purity  of  heart,   for- 

'^The    Nineteenth  Century  for    October,  1906. 

2The  following  account  of  Moslems  at  prayer  is  typical:  "Personal  pride, 
which,  like  blood  in  the  body,  runs  through  all  the  veins  of  the  mind  of 
Mohammedanism,  which  sets  the  soul  of  a  Sultan  in  the  twisted  frame  of 
a  beggar  at  a  street  corner,  is  not  cast  off  in  the  act  of  adoration.  These 
Arabs  humbled  themselves  in  the  body.  Their  foreheads  touched  the 
stones.  By  their  attitudes  they  seemed  as  if  they  wished  to  make  them- 
selves even  v/ith  the  ground,  to  shrink  into  the  space  occupied  by  a  grain 
of  sand.  Yet  they  were  proud  in  the  presence  of  Allah,  as  if  the  firmness 
of  their  belief  in  him  and  his  right  dealing,  the  fury  of  their  contempt 
and  hatred  for  those  who  looked  not  toward  Mecca  nor  regarded  Rama- 
zan,  gave  them  a  patent  of  nobility.  Despite  their  genuflections  they  were 
all  as  men  who  knew,  and  never  forgot,  that  on  them  was  conferred  the 
right  to  keep  on  their  head-covering  in  the  presence  of  their  King.  With 
unclosed  eyes  they  looked  God  full  in  the  face.  Their  dull  and  growling 
murmur  had  the  majesty  of  thunder  rolling  tbrowgh  the  sky."— "The 
Garden  of  Allah,"   153. 


132  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

giveness  of  injuries,  sacrifice  of  self,  to  man's  moral  na- 
ture ;  it  gives  scope  for  toleration,  development,  boundless 
progress  to  his  mind;  its  motive  power  is  stronger,  even 
as  a  friend  is  better  than  a  king,  and  love  higher  than 
obedience.  Its  realised  ideals  in  the  various  paths  of 
human  greatness  have  been  more  commanding,  more 
many-sided,  more  holy,  as  Averroes  is  helozv  Neivton, 
Harun  belozv  Alfred,  and  AH  below  St.  Paul.  Finally, 
the  ideal  life  of  all,  is  far  more  elevating,  far  more  ma- 
jestic, far  more  inspiring,  even  as  the  life  of  the  founder 
of  Mohammedanism  is  below  the  life  of  the  Founder  of 
Christianity.  If,  then,  we  believe  Christianity  to  be  truer 
and  purer  in  itself  than  Islam  and  than  any  other  religion, 
we  m.ust  needs  wish  others  to  be  partakers  of  it ;  and  the 
efforts  to  propagate  it  is  thrice  blessed — it  blesses  him 
that  offers  no  less  than  him  who  accepts  it ;  nay,  it  often 
blesses  him  who  accepts  it  not."^ 

And  so  the  most  famous  apologist  for  Islam  himself 
pleads  for  missions  to  the  Mohammedan  world  on  the 
ground  of  its  ethical  needs. 

^Quoted  by  F.  F.  Ellinwood  in  "Oriental  Religions  and  Christianity,"  218. 

For  further  statements  concerning  the  social  results  of  the  ethics  of  Is- 
lam consult  Dennis,  "Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress,"  Vol.  I,  389- 
3QI  and  446-448. 


DIVISION,    DISINTEGRATION    AND    REFORM 


"We  stand  in  the  midst  of  a  great  world  of  wrecked  religions. 
Heresy  after  heresy  has  shot  schism  upon  schism  through  what 
we  used  to  look  upon  as  a  solid  mass  of  Mohammedanism,  and 
all  the  other  non-Christian  religions  are  attempting,  in  greater 
or  less  degree,  to  transform  themselves  beneath  our  eyes.  They 
are  confessing,  every  one  of  them,  their  inadequacy  to  meet  the 
needs  of  men." — Robert  E.  Speer,  in  the  "Non-Christian  Relig- 
ions Inadequate  to  Meet  the  Needs  of  Men,"  an  address  at  the 
Student  Volunteer  Convention,  Nashville,   1906. 

"Verily,  it  will  happen  to  my  people  even  as  it  did  to  the 
Children  of  Israel.  The  Children  of  Israel  were  divided  into 
seventy-two  sects,  and  my  people  will  be  divided  into  seventy- 
three.  Every  one  of  these  sects  will  go  to  hell,  except  one  sect." 
— Mohammed  (Mishkat,  Book  I,  chap.  6,  part  2). 


VII 
DIVISION,    DISINTEGRATION    AND    REFORM 

Why  Islam  Became  Divided. — In  the  Koran  there  was 
given  to  Moslems  a  rehgion,  but  no  reUgious  system.  It 
was  all  accepted  by  the  first  believers  without  asking 
questions  of  the  how  and  why.  But  when  once  Islam 
left  the  deserts  of  Arabia  and  conquered  Syria  and  Per- 
sia and  the  regions  beyond,  the  conquerors  were  faced 
by  a  fully  formed  Christian  belief  and  by  Zoroastrian  and 
Brahmanic  thought. 

It  is  true  that  the  Arabs  assumed  everywhere  the  lead- 
ing position.  They  were  a  military  aristocracy,  and  the 
proof  of  it  is  the  fact  that  conquered  nations  with  an  old 
and  superior  civilization  accepted  the  language  of  their 
conquerors.  But  when  the  new  converts  in  Persia  and 
Syria  interpreted  the  new  religion  and  began  to  write  its 
dogmatics,  the  rise  of  dispute  and  the  multiplication  of 
divisions  was  inevitable.  The  new  wine  of  Aryan  thought 
and  philosophy  burst  the  leathern  bottles  of  the  Semitic 
creed.  As  Sir  Lewis  Pelly  remarks :  'Though  the  per- 
sonal history  of  Ali  and  his  sons  was  the  exciting  cause 
of  the  Shiah  schism,  its  predisposing  cause  lies  far  deeper 
in  the  impassable  ethnological  gulf  which  separates  the 
Aryan  and  Semitic  races. "^ 

i"The  Miracle  Play  of  Hassan  and  Husain,"  Introduction,  xvi.    (London, 
1879-) 


136  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

It  is  evident  from  the  saying  of  Mohammed,  quoted  on 
the  page  facing  this  chapter,  that  he  himself  anticipated 
division  among  his  followers,  for  in  his  own  family  jeal- 
ousies and  rivalries  were  already  preparing  the  way  for 
the  first  great  schism.  The  story  of  Ayesha,  Moham- 
med's daughter,  as  given  by  Muir,  is  a  striking  example. 
She  died  fifty-eight  years  after  the  Hegira. 

Ntimher  of  Moslem  Sects. — The  number  of  Moslem 
sects  has  far  exceeded  the  prediction  of  Mohammed,  for 
they  are  more  in  number  and  variety  than  those  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Several  of  the  sects,  especially  the 
orthodox  Sunnis,  arrogate  to  themselves  the  title  of 
Najiyah,  or  "those  who  are  being  saved."  Most  of  them 
agree  with  the  dictum  of  the  Prophet  that  there  is  no  sal- 
vation for  heretics ;  while  for  rancor,  bitterness,  hatred 
and  bloodshed  the  sad  divisions  of  Christendom  are  far 
outmatched  by  the  history  of  sects  in  Islam.  Sheikh 
Abd  ul  Kader  says  there  are  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
fifty  sects  in  Islam  ;^  others,  like  the  author  of  Ghiyas-nl- 
Lugliat,  have  been  very  careful  to  so  prepare  a  list  of  all 
the  Moslem  sects  as  to  tally  exactly  with  Mohammed's 
prophecy  that  they  would  number  seventy-three !  By 
this  artificial  classification  there  are  six  divisions,  of 
twelve  sects  each,  from  which  one  can  choose  a  way  of  de- 
struction, and  the  seventy-third  (that  of  the  author)  is 
the  path  of  Najiyah,  or  salvation.  The  table  on  page 
138  gives  the  chief  Moslem  sects  and  their  relation 
one  to  another. 

The  S minis.. — This  sect  far  outnumbers  all  others  to- 
day, and  was  also  the  most  influential  in  the  history  of 
Islam.     The  Sunnis,  as  their  name  imports,  are  the  fol- 

^T.  P.   Hughes,   "Dictionary  of   Islam,"   569. 


?  < 


DIVISIOX,   DISINTEGRATION    AND   REFORM  1 37 

lowers  of  tradition  and  the  foes  of  all  innovation.  To 
them  the  Koran  was  the  Procrustean  bed  for  the  human 
intellect.  Everything  was  measured  by  it  and  by  ortho- 
dox tradition.  Especially  on  the  doctrine  of  predestina- 
tion they  were  opposed  to  all  compromise.  When  we 
consider  the  deadening  influence  of  their  doctrine  of  fatal- 
ism, it  is  not  surprising  that  they  are  opposed  to  all  new 
philosophy.  The  attainments  of  the  Arabs  in  philosophy 
have  been  greatly  overrated;  they  were  translators  and 
transmitters  of  the  Greek  philosophy,  and  whatever  was 
added  to  Plato  and  Aristotle  came  not  from  the  side  of 
orthodoxy,  but  was  entirely  the  work  of  heretics  such  as 
Averroes,  Aifarabi  and  Avicenna.^ 

The  philosopher  of  the  Sunnis  is  Al  Ghazzali,  and  the 
result  of  his  work  was  the  complete  triumph  of  unphilo- 
sophical  orthodoxy.  So  utterly  barren  of  ideas  and  op- 
posed to  all  reason  did  this  orthodoxy  become  that 
Sprenger  sarcastically  remarks  concerning  it:  ''The 
Moslem  student  marveled  neither  at  the  acuteness  nor 
yet  at  the  audacity  of  his  master ;  he  marveled  rather  at 
the  wisdom  of  God,  which  could  draw  forth  such  myste- 
rious interpretations.  Theology,  in  fact,  had  now  made 
such  happy  progress  that  men  looked  on  common  sense 
as  a  mere  human  attribute — the  reverse  being  that  zvhich 
zuas  expected  from  Deity!" 

The  Sunni  sect  has  four  orthodox  schools  of  theology 
and  jurisprudence,  founded  by  the  four  great  doctors, 
Abu  Hanifa,  Ibn  Malik,  As  Shafi  and  Ibn  Hanbal.  The^e 
agree  in  essentials,  but  differ  in  their  interpretation  of 
ceremonial  laws  and  are  more  or  less  rigid.  Generally 
speaking,  central  Asia,  northern  India  and  the  Turks 
everywhere  are  Haniiite;  lower  Egypt,   southern   India 

^Ueberweg,  "History  of  Philosophy,"  Vol.  I,  405. 


138  islam:     a  challenge  to  faith 

and  the  Malay  archipelago  are  Shailte;  upper  Egypt  and 
north  Africa  are  Malikite;  while  the  sect  of  Hanbalites 
exists  only  in  central  and  eastern  Arabia.  All  of  them 
agree  on  the  Faith  and  Practice  set  forth  in  Qiapters  IV 
and  V. 

But  the  four  schools  have  disputes  over  unimportant 
trivialities,  such  as  whether  one  should  first  wash  the 
wrist  or  the  elbow  before  prayer,  whether  a  cat  can  be 
allowed  to  enter  a  mosque,  etc.  Each  of  these  four  ortho- 
dox sects  has  its  special  place  of  prayer  around  the  Kaaba 
at  Mecca.  A  very  mountain  of  voluminous  literature  on 
jurisprudence  and  tradition  proves  the  literary  activity 
of  the  disciples  of  these  four  orthodox  fathers.  Scrihen- 
diim  est  seems  to  have  been  their  motto ! 

The  Shiahs. — These  are  the  partisans  of  the  house  of 
AH  and  they  assert  that  he  should  have  been  the  first  of 
the  caliphs  after  Mohammed's  death.  So  great  is  their 
hatred  toward  the  earlier  caliphs  that  on  one  of  their  fes- 
tivals three  images  of  dough  filled  with  honey  are  made 
to  represent  Abu  Bekr,  Omar  and  Othman,  which  are 
then  stuck  with  knives  and  the  honey  is  sipped  as  typical 
of  the  blood  of  the  usurping  caliphs !  The  festival  is 
named  Ghadir,  from  the  place  in  Arabia  where  their  tra- 
ditions say  Mohammed  declared  Ali  his  rightful  suc- 
cessor. 

There  are  thirty-two  subdivisions  of  the  Shiah  sect, 
and  the  most  important  are  given  in  the  table. ^  The  chief 

iTABLE  OF  CHIEF  MOSLEM  SECTS 
I.  The   Sunnis,    or   Orthodox    Sect,    divided   into   four   schools    of  jurispru- 
dence, with  date  of  the  death  of  their  founders: 

1.  Hanafis,   767  A.    D. 

2.  Shafts,  820  A.   D. 

3.  Malakis,  795  A.   D. 

4.  Hanbalis,  855  A.   D.     From  this  school  arose  the  Puritan  Refor- 

mation under  the  Wahatis.    (1787  A.  D.) 


DIVISION,    DISINTEGRATION    AND   REFORM  1 39 

point  of  difference  between  the  Shiahs  and  Sunnis  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Imamate.  This  consists  in  the  behef  that 
the  "Hght  of  iMohammed"  descended  to  AH  and  from  him 
passed  to  the  true  Imams  or  reUgious  leaders.  The  Imam 
is  the  successor  of  the  Prophet,  he  is  free  from  all  sin  and 
his  authority  is  infallible.  The  Imam  is  the  Vicar  of  God 
on  earth.  There  have  been  twelve  regular  Imams  ac- 
cording to  Shiah  belief.  The  last  of  the  twelve  Imams, 
Abu  el  Kasim,  is  supposed  to  be  still  alive,  though  hidden 
from  view.  He  is  the  Mahdi,  or  expected  Guide,  ''who 
will  fill  the  earth  with  justice,  even  though  it  be  covered 
with  tyranny."  This  expected  Mahdi  has  always  been 
the  life  and  the  hope  of  Moslem  fanaticism  and  faith. 
"The  whole  of  the  Shiah  doctrine  of  the  Imamate,"  says 
Canon  Sell,  "seems  to  show  that  there  is  in  the  human 
heart  a  natural  desire  for  some  Mediator — some  Word  of 
the  Father  who  shall  reveal  Him  to  His  children.  At 
first  sight  it  would  seem  as  if  this  dogma  might  to  some 
extent  reconcile  the  thoughtful  Shiah  to  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  the  incarnation  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  His  office  as  the  perfect  revealer  of  God's  will  and  as 
our  Guide  in  life ;  but  it  is  not  so.  The  mystic  lore  con- 
nected with  Shiah  doctrine  has  sapped  the  foundation  of 
moral  life  and  vigor.  A  system  of  religious  reservation, 
too,  is  a  fundamental  part  of  the  system.     It  thus  becomes 

2.  The   Mu'taztlis,   the  followers   of   Wasil-ibn'Ata    (no   A.    H.),   the   first 

teacher  of   scholastic    divinity   among   Moslems.     His   method  of   inter- 
pretation is  partly  adopted  by  the  "New  Islam"  of  India  and  Egypt. 

3.  The  Sifatis,  who  held  the  contrary  opinions  of  the  Mu'tazilis. 

4.  The   Kharijis,   or  Aliens,  who  revolted  from  AH. 

5.  The  Shiahs,  or  the  followers  of  Ali,  divided  into: 

1.  Imamis,  who  belive  in  the  twelve  Imams. 

2.  Zaidis.  the  followers  of  Zaid  as  one  of  the  Imams. 

3.  Ismailis,    the    followers    of   Ismail. 

"The  Veiled  Prophet  of  Khorasan"  (Lalla  Rookh),  Babek, 
"the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains,"  the  Assassins,  and  the  Car* 
mathians  all  came  from  this  branch. 


140  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

impossible  to  place  dependence  on  what  a  Shiah  may  pro- 
fess, as  pious  frauds  are  legalized  by  his  system  of  re- 
ligion. If  he  becomes  a  mystic,  he  looks  upon  the  cere- 
monial and  moral  law  as  restrictions  imposed  by  an  Al- 
mighty Power.  The  advent  of  the  Mahdi  is  the  good 
time  when  all  such  restrictions  shall  be  removed,  when 
the  utmost  freedom  shall  be  allowed.  Thus  the  moral 
sense  in  many  cases  becomes  deadened  to  an  extent  such 
as  those  who  are  not  in  daily  contact  with  these  people  can 
hardly  credit."^ 

The  Shiahs  also  differ  fron..  the  Sunnis  in  the  following 
points  :  They  still  possess  Mujtahids,  or  enlightened  doc- 
tors of  the  law,  whose  interpretation  is  final ;  they  observe 
the  Moharram  ceremonies  and  then  have  a  sort  of  mira- 
cle-play to  commemorate  the  death  of  Hassan  and  Husain, 
the  sons  of  Ali;  they  also  allow  Miita'a,  or  temporary 
marriages,  and  differ  in  liturgical  practice  and  in  civil 
law  from  the  orthodox  on  many  points. 

''With  the  Shiahs  extremes  meet,"  says  Mr.  Wilfred 
S.  Blunt.  "No  Moslems  more  readily  adapt  themselves 
to  the  superficial  atheisms  of  Europe  than  do  the  Persians, 
and  none  are  more  ardently  devout,  as  all  who  have  wit- 
nessed the  miracle-play  of  the  two  Imams  will  be  obliged 
to  admit.  Extremes,  too,  of  morality  are  seen,  fierce 
asceticisms  and  gross  licentiousness.  By  no  sect  of  Islam 
is  the  duty  of  a  pilgrimage  more  religiously  observed  or 
the  prayers  and  ablutions  required  by  their  rule  per- 
formed with  a  stricter  ritual.  But  the  very  pilgrims  who 
go  on  foot  to  Mecca  scruple  not  to  drink  wine  there,  and 
Persian  morality  is  everywhere  a  by-word."^ 

The  Shiah  sect  does  not  number  much  over  twelve  mil- 

^E.  Sell,  "The  Faith  of  Islam." 

2"Future  of  Islam,"  quoted  in  Hughes'  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  579. 


DIVISION,    DISINTEGR-\TION    AND   REFORM  14! 

lion.  Outside  of  Persia  they  are  found  chiefly  in  Mes- 
opotamia and  India,  with  a  few  in  Syria  and  Afghanistan. 

Other  Sects. — The  Ghana  sect  of  Shiahs  exceeded  all 
bounds  in  their  veneration  for  their  Imams,  and  raised 
them  to  deity.  The  Abadiyah  hold  Ali  alone  to  have  been 
divine,  and  practically  worship  him  as  such. 

Among  the  subdivisions  of  the  Khavvariji  sect  there  are 
those  "who  believe  that  God  is  indifferent  to  the  actions 
of  men  as  if  He  were  in  a  state  of  sleep."  Others  who  re- 
quire a  complete  bath  five  times  a  day  before  prayer  is 
considered  legal !  Another  sect  holds  that  there  is  no 
punishment  for  sin,  and  still  another  holds  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls ! 

The  Jabariyah  sect,  with  its  twelve  minor  divisions, 
deny  free-will.  Some  of  them  say  "that  inasmuch  as  God 
doeth  everything  and  everything  is  of  God,  man  cannot  be 
made  responsible  for  either  good  or  evil."  The  many 
sects  of  Kadariyahs,  on  the  contrary,  assert  free-will  and 
some  go  so  far  as  to  teach  "that  the  actions  of  men  are  of 
no  consequence,  whether  they  be  good  or  evil." 

All  sorts  of  heretical  sects  sprang  up  because  of  specu- 
lation on  the  being  and  attributes  of  Allah.  Orthodox 
Moslems  were  greatly  averse  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Incar- 
nation, yet  there  w^as  much  absurd  teaching  about  the 
form  of  Allah.  "Some  went  so  far  as  to  ascribe  to  Him 
all  the  bodily  members  together,  wath  the  exception  of  the 
beard  and  other  privileges  of  oriental  manhood."^  What 
a  contrast  to  the  wild  speculations  or  ignorant  groping 
for  light  on  such  topics  by  Moslem  authors  are  the 
words  of  St.  John :  "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father,  he  hath   declared   Him."-     Or   of  Jesus   Christ 

^T.  J.  De  Boer,  "Philosophy  of  Islam,"  44.  -John  i:iS. 


142  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Himself:  "The  hour  cometh  and  now  is  when  the  true 
worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth,  for  the  Father  seeketh  such  to  worship  Him.  God 
is  a  spirit  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him 
in  spirit  and  in  truth. ^ 

Disintegration. — In  addition  to  all  these  divisions  on 
doctrinal  and  party  lines  Islam  has  suffered  disintegration 
for  centuries  through  pantheism,  rationalism,  and  asceti- 
cism, which  at  various  times  and  in  various  ways  swept 
through  all  the  sects  alike,  and  exerted  a  powerful  influ- 
ence everywhere,  without  producing  permanent  reform 
or  progress. 

"Christian  heresies,  Greek  philosophy,  oriental,  and 
Aryan  mysticism  made  short  work  with  the  Shiah  divis- 
ion; and  altho  the  Persians  have  furnished  Islam  with 
only  ten  million  votaries  at  its  most  flourishing  period 
(hardly  more  than  one-twentieth  in  all),  yet  it  has  had 
from  the  earliest  times  more  antagonizing  and  heretical 
sects  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world  of  Islam  put  together. 
Mohammedan  rationalism  has  always  found  its  home  in 
Persia."^  And  so  also  Mohammedan  mysticism  found 
its  cradle  in  Persia,  altho  according  to  learned  orientalists 
its  ideas  are  mainly  borrowed  from  Indian  philosophy  of 
the  Vedanta  school. 

Suiiism. — From  the  earliest  days  of  Islam  there  has  ex- 
isted among  Moslems  a  kind  of  mysticism  in  protest 
against  the  barren  formalism  of  its  ritual  and  the  dead 
orthodoxy  of  its  dogma.  Those  who  followed  this  system 
were  called  Sufis.^ 

»John  4:23,  24. 

*H.  W.  Hulbert,  "The  Philosophical  Disintegration  of  Islam,"  in  Bihli- 
otheca  Sacra,  January,   1899. 

•The  word  is  severally  derived:  From  suf  (wool),  because  they  wore  a 
woolen  garment;  or  from  <ro(f)ia  (wisdom);  or  from  safa'   (purity). 


DIVISION,    DISINTEGRATION    AND   REFORM  I43 

Sufiism  in  the  early  days  of  Islam  consisted  in  spending 
one's  time  in  worship  and  fleeing  the  pleasures  of  the 
world.  Its  later  development  was  pantheistic  and  specu- 
lative rather  than  ascetic  in  character. 

The  leading  doctrines  of  the  Sufis  can  be  stated  as 
follows : 

1.  God  alone  exists,  and  is  all  in  all. 

2.  Religions  are  matters  of  indifference,  altho  Islam  is 
the  most  advantageous  for  the  present  life. 

3.  There  is  no  distinction  between  good  and  evil,  as 
God  is  the  real  author  of  both. 

4.  Man  has  no  real  free-will. 

5.  The  soul  dwells  in  the  body  like  a  bird  in  a  cage,  and 
the  sooner  it  is  released  the  better. 

6.  Spiritual  union  with  God  is  the  highest  good. 

7.  Without  God's  grace  we  cannot  attain  to  this  union, 
but  we  receive  it  by  asking  fervently. 

8.  The  chief  duty  while  in  the  body  is  to  meditate 
(Zikr)  on  God's  unity  and  His  attributes  (names),  and 
so  progress  in  the  journey  of  life  {tarika) } 

Their  definition  of  the  Perfect  Man  {Insan-ul-Kamil) 
is  very  remarkable:  *'He  should  have  four  things  in 
perfection :  good  words,  good  deeds,  good  principles,  and 
knowledge.  He  should  have  four  additional  character- 
istics, viz.,  renunciation,  retirement,  contentment,  and 
leisure.  He  who  has  the  first  four  is  virtuous  but  not 
free;  he  who  has  the  whole  eight  is  perfect,  liberal,  vir- 
tuous and  free."  Among  the  names  they  give  to  this 
ideal  man  are:  Guide,  Beacon,  Alirror  of  the  World, 
Mighty  Elixir,  Isa  (Jesus),  the  Raiser  of  the  Dead, 
Khizar  (the  Discoverer  of  the  Water  of  Life),  and  Solo- 

^Particulars    of    their    belief    in    "the    journey"    and    its    various    mystical 
stages  can  be  found  in  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of   Islam." 


144  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

mon,  who  knew  the  language  of  the  Birds !     It  is  strange 
that  Mohammed's  name  is  not  mentioned. 

The  very  essence  of  Sufiism  is  poetry,  and  the  cele- 
brated Masnavi,  the  poems  of  Sa'adi  and  the  odes  of 
Hafiz  afford  Scriptures  to  the  Moslem  mystic.  Yet  each 
of  these  authors  contains  passages  unfit  for  publication  in 
English  and  at  times  advocates  morals  that  are  corrupt. 
Here  are  some  specimens  of  their  teaching  on  the  Divine 
love  and  unity : 

"One  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  Beloved,  and  a  voice  from 
within  inquired,  'Who  is  there?'  Then  he  answered,  'It  is  I.' 
And  the  voice  said,  'This  house  will  not  hold  me  and  thee,' 
So  the  door  remained  shut.  Then  the  Lover  sped  away  into  the 
wilderness,  and  fasted  and  prayed  in  solitude.  And  after  a  year 
he  returned,  and  knocked  again  at  the  door,  and  the  voice  again 
demanded,  'Who  is  there?'  And  the  Lover  said,  'It  is  Thou.' 
Then  the  door  was  opened." 


"Are  we  fools?    We  are  God's  captivity. 
Are  we  wise?    We  are  His  promenade. 
Are  we  sleeping?    We  are  drunk  with  God. 
Are  we  waking?    Then  we  are  His  heralds. 
Are  we  weeping?     Then  His  clouds  of  wrath. 
Are  we  laughing?     Flashes  of  His  love." 

The  story  of  the  Indian  convert  from  Islam,  Dr.  Imad 
ud  Din,  as  told  in  his  autobiography,  will  make  clear  the 
hopelessness  of  Sufi-teaching :  'T  sought  for  union  with 
God  from  travellers  and  fakirs^  and  even  from  the  insane 
people  of  the  city,  according  to  the  tenets  of  the  Sufi 
mystics.  The  thought  of  utterly  renouncing  the  world 
then  came  into  my  mind  with  so  much  power  that  I  left 
everybody,  and  went  out  into  the  jungles  and  became  a 


DIVISION,   DISINTEGRATION    AND   REFORM  I45 

fakir,  putting  on  clothes  covered  with  red  ochre,  and  wan- 
dered here  and  there,  from  city  to  city,  and  from  village 
to  village,  step  by  step,  alone,  for  about  2,000  cos  (2,500 
miles),  without  plan  or  baggage.  Faith  in  the  Moham- 
medan religion  will  never,  indeed,  allow  true  sincerity  to 
be  produced  in  the  nature  of  man;  yet  I  was  then,  al- 
though with  many  worldly  motives,  in  search  only  of  God. 
In  this  state  I  entered  the  city  of  Karuli,  where  a  stream 
called  Cholida  flows  beneath  a  mountain,  and  there  I 
stayed  to  perform  the  Hisb  ul  baliar.  I  had  a  book  with 
me  on  the  doctrines  of  mysticism  and  the  practice  of  de- 
votion, which  I  had  received  from  my  religious  guide, 
and  held  more  dear  even  than  the  Koran.  In  my  jour- 
neys I  slept  with  it  at  my  side  at  nights,  and  took  comfort 
in  clasping  it  to  my  heart  whenever  my  mind  was  per- 
plexed. My  religious  guide  had  forbidden  me  to  show 
this  book,  or  to  speak  of  its  secrets  to  any  one,  for  it  con- 
tained the  sum  of  everlasting  happiness  ;  and  so  this  price- 
less book  is  even  now  lying  useless  on  a  shelf  in  my  house. 
I  took  up  the  book,  and  sat  down  on  the  bank  of  the 
stream,  to  perform  the  ceremonies  as  they  were  enjoined, 
according  to  the  following  rules:  The  celebrant  must 
first  perform  his  ablutions  on  the  banks  of  the  flowing 
stream,  and,  wearing  an  unsewn  dress,  must  sit  in  a  par- 
ticular manner  on  one  knee  for  twelve  days,  and  repeat 
the  prayer  called  J 11  go  par  thirty  times  every  day  with  a 
loud  voice.  He  must  not  eat  any  food  with  salt,  or  any- 
thing at  all,  except  some  barley  bread  of  flour,  lawfully 
earned,  which  he  has  made  with  his  own  hands,  and  baked, 
with  wood  that  he  has  brought  himself  from  the  jungles. 
During  the  day  he  must  fast  entirely,  after  performing 
his  ablutions  in  the  river  before  daylight ;  and  he  must  re- 
main barefooted,  wearing  no  shoes;  nor  must  he  touch 


14^  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

any  man,  nor,  except  at  an  appointed  time,  even  speak  to 
any  one.  The  object  of  it  all  is  that  he  may  meet  with 
God,  and  from  the  longing  desire  to  attain  to  this  I  under- 
went all  this  pain.  In  addition  to  the  above,  I  wrote  the 
name  of  God  on  paper  during  this  time  125,000  times, 
performing  a  certain  portion  every  day;  and  I  cut  out 
each  word  separately  with  scissors  and  wrapped  them  up 
each  in  a  little  ball  of  flour,  and  fed  the  fishes  of  the  river 
with  them,  in  the  way  the  book  prescribed.  My  days 
were  spent  in  this  manner,  and  during  half  the  night  I 
slept,  and  the  remaining  half  I  sat  up,  and  wrote  the  name 
of  God  mentally  on  my  heart,  and  saw  Him  with  the  eye 
of  thought.  When  all  this  toil  was  over,  and  I  went 
thence,  I  had  no  strength  left  in  my  body;  my  face  was 
wan  and  pale,  and  I  could  not  even  hold  myself  against 
the  wind."^ 

The  Derzvish  Orders. — The  Derwish  Orders  are  the 
direct  result  of  Sufiism.  They  are  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful factors  in  present-day  Islam,  and  altho  they  are  in 
disfavor  among  the  orthodox  they  have  spread  every- 
where, and  in  Constantinople  alone  they  have  two  hun- 
dred monasteries.  All  of  them  are  absolutely  obedient  to 
their  spiritual  leaders  or  Sheikhs  and  the  various  orders 
are  bound  together  by  secret  oaths  and  symbolism  after 
the  fashion  of  Free  Masonry.  Hypnotism  is  used  in  their 
initiation  ceremonies,  and  after  their  initiation  they  are 
told  to  be  "in  the  hands  of  their  superior,  as  the  body  of  a 
deceased  person  is  in  the  hands  of  those  that  wash  the 
dead." 

The  derwish,  or  fakir  (for  that  is  his  name  in  Arabic) 
generally  obtains  his  living  by  begging  from  door  to  door, 

'"A    Mohammedan    Brought  to    Christ:     The   Autobiography   of   the    Late 
Rev.  Imad-ud-Din.  D.D."    (Church  Missionary  Society,  London,  1900.) 


DIVISION,    DISINTEGRATION    AND    REFORM  I47 

but  this  does  not  signify  that  he  is  poor.  I  remember  one 
who  came  to  me  in  Arabia  in  tattered  garments  and  asked 
me  to  keep  a  bag  of  silver  money  for  him  !  He  had  made 
large  sums  writing  talismans  and  amulets  for  women  and 
children.  They  wander  from  country  to  country,  and  it 
is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  meet  derwishes  from  Tunis, 
Calcutta  or  Java  on  the  streets  of  Bagdad  and  Constan- 
tinople. 

There  are  two  classes  of  derwishes — those  who  govern 
their  conduct  according  to  the  law  of  Islam  and  those  who 
profess  to  be  free  from  the  yoke  of  any  creed,  altho  call- 
ing themselves  Moslems. 

There  are  thirty-two  orders  of  derwishes  founded  by 
various  leaders  between  A.  D.  766  and  A.  D.  1750.^ 
Their  influence  is  widespread  and  everywhere  opposed  to 
Christianity  and  Christian  governments.  The  derwish 
orders  are  the  tentacles  of  the  Pan-Islamic  movement, 
and  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  uses  their  leaders  as  spies  and 
to  work  out  his  own  ambitions.^ 

The  Babis  and  the  Beha'is. — Altho  these  are  not  Mos- 
lem sects,  but  arose  rather  in  protest  against  some  of  the 
teaching  of  Islam,  they  yet  sprang  up  on  Moslem  soil, 
and  their  opinions  are  closely  connected  with  the  Shiah 
doctrine  of  the  Imamate.  They  share  their  mystical 
mode  of  thought  and  thousands  of  Shiahs  in  Persia  were 
the  first  to  hail  the  Bab  as  the  great  Deliverer. 

When  Abd  ul  Kasim,  the  last  of  the  twelve  Imams, 
disappeared  in  329  A.  H,  he  is  supposed  to  have  held 
intercourse  through  a  successive  number  of  men  who 
were  called  "Doors"  (singular=Bab).  Abu  el  Hassan, 
the  last  of  these  "Doors,"  refused  to  appoint  a  successor. 

^For  a  full  account  of  their  worship,  shrines,  doctrines  and  aim,  the  stu- 
dent is  referred  to  the   bibliography  on  this  chapter. 
'^See  R.  P.  Louis  Petit,  "Les  Confreries  Musulmanes." 


148  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

IMany  centuries  passed  by  and  then,  in  1826- 1843,  ^^^ 
Shaiki  sect  revived  this  belief  and  sought  for  a  new  Bab. 
He  was  found  in  the  person  of  Mirza  AH  Mohammed, 
who  was  born  at  Shiraz  in  1820.  After  having  studied, 
meditated  and  led  an  austere  life  until  he  was  about 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  he  announced  himself  as  a 
duly  authorized  teacher  and  guide,  and  assumed  the  title 
of  the  Bab,  declaring  that  whosoever  wished  to  approach 
God  must  do  it  through  him.  Notwithstanding  the  op- 
position of  a  number  of  Mullas  (priests),  crowds  of 
people,  among  whom  there  were  learned  men  also,  fol- 
lowed him  and  became  his  disciples.  In  1848  the  Shah  of 
Persia  severely  persecuted  the  Babis  and  put  the  Bab 
himself  to  death.  In  1852  an  attempt  was  made  to  assas- 
sinate the  Shah  and  a  new  persecution  of  the  sect  fol- 
lowed. But  they  continued  to  increase  and  spread  their 
teachings. 

After  the  death  of  the  Bab,  Mirza  Yahya  and  his  half- 
brother,  Beha  Ullah,  became  the  leaders  of  two  rival  sects 
of  Babis,  viz.,  the  Ezelis  and  the  Beha'is.  Both  leaders 
were  deported,  Beha  and  his  followers  to  Akka  and  Mirza 
to  Famgusta,  in  Cyprus. 

Babism  and  its  derived  sects  are  all  a  protest  and  a  re- 
volt against  orthodox  Islam,  whether  the  "orthodoxy"  of 
the  Shiahs  or  the  Sunnis.  The  whole  movement  in  its 
origin,  extent  and  present  decline  is  indicative  of  the  dis- 
integration of  Moslem  philosophy  and  religion.  It  is  the 
beginning  of  the  end.  Islam  as  an  intellectual  system 
can  no  longer  appeal  to  the  thoughtful.  They  are  grop- 
ing elsewhere  for  a  Deliverer,  and  seeking  an  ideal  of 
character  higher  than  Mohammed.  The  Babis  forbid  the 
traffic  in  slaves,  and  deprecate  violence  in  religion ;  they 
do  not  observe  Ramazan  and  do  not  pray  toward  Mecca. 


DIVISION,    DISINTEGRATION    AND    REFORM  I49 

Concerning  the  l>eha'is  an  American  missionary  in  Per- 
sia writes :  "They  are  not  more  open  to  the  gospel  than 
the  Moslems.  In  fact,  many  consider  them  less  so,  for 
although  they  profess  to  accept  the  whole  Bible,  yet  by 
their  allegorical  interpretation  and  denial  of  all  miracles 
they  effectually  change  its  meaning.  Having  incorpo- 
rated into  their  books  some  of  the  moral  precepts  of 
Christ  and  having  adopted  a  semi-Christian  vocabulary, 
they  delight  to  discourse  at  length  on  love,  on  a  tree  being 
known  by  its  fruits,  and  on  kindred  themes ;  but  having 
left  out  Christ,  the  centre,  they  have  missed  the  essential 
thing,  and  novv'  in  Persia  are  notorious  as  being  religious 
in  word  rather  than  in  deed.  In  fact,  many  of  them  are 
simply  irreligious  rationalists.  By  neither  Moslem,  Jew 
nor  Christian  are  they  considered  morally  superior  to  the 
Moslems,  while  in  some  respects  they  are  rightly  judged 
less  so.  They  have  grossly  exaggerated  the  number  of 
their  converts,  so  that  Moslems  now  say  of  them  that  the 
Bahai  claims  for  a  convert  every  man  who  speaks  to  him 
on  the  street.  The  outside  figure  for  all  Persia  is  200,- 
000,  with  all  probability  that  half  that  number  is  nearer 
the  truth.  The  one  promising  aspect  of  the  movement 
is  that  it  is  an  opening  wedge  making  for  religious  lib- 
erty."i 

The  JValiabis. — The  rise  of  this  remarkable  movement 
in  Islam  cannot  be  called  the  birth  of  a  new  sect.  They 
themselves  do  not  consider  it  so.  It  was  an  honest  at- 
tempt to  reform  or  renew  Islam  on  radical  lines ;  an  en- 
deavor to  return  to  the  golden  days  by  setting  back  the 
hands  of  the  clock.  But,  like  every  other  attempt  to  re- 
form Islam,  it  failed  signally  and  piteously. 

Mohammed  bin  Abd  ul  Wahab  was  born  at  Ayinah,  in 

^S.   M.  Jordan,   in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"    129. 


150  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

Nejd,  in  1691.  Carefully  instructed  by  his  father  in  the 
tenets  of  Islam  according  to  the  school  of  Hanbali,  the 
strictest  of  the  four  great  sects,  Abd  ul  Wahab  visited 
the  schools  of  Mecca,  Busrah  and  Bagdad,  to  increase  his 
learning.  At  Medina,  too,  he  absorbed  the  learning  of 
the  Moslem  divines  and  soaked  himself  in  the  "six  cor- 
rect books"  of  Traditions.  In  his  travels  he  had  observed 
the  laxity  of  faith  and  practice  which  had  crept  in,  es- 
pecially among  the  Turks  and  the  Arabs  of  the  large 
cities.  He  tried  to  distinguish  between  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  Islam  and  its  later  additions,  some  of  which 
seemed  to  him  to  savor  of  gross  idolatry  and  worldliness. 
What  most  offended  the  rigid  monotheism  of  his  philoso- 
phy was  the  almost  universal  visitation  of  shrines,  invo- 
cation of  saints,  and  the  honor  paid  at  the  tomb  of  Mo- 
hammed. The  use  of  the  rosary,  of  jewels,  silk,  gold, 
silver,  wine  and  tobacco,  were  all  abominations  to  be 
eschewed.  These  were  indications  of  the  great  need  for 
reform.  The  earlier  teaching  of  the  companions  of  the 
Prophet  had  been  set  aside  or  overlaid  by  later  teaching. 
Even  the  four  orthodox  schools  had  departed  from  the 
pure  faith  by  allowing  pilgrimage  to  Medina,  by  multi- 
plying festivals  and  philosophizing  about  the  nature  of 
Allah.  Therefore  it  was  that  Abd  ul  Wahab  not  only 
preached  reform,  but  proclaimed  himself  the  leader  of  a 
new  jihad.  His  teaching  was  based  on  the  Koran  and 
the  early  traditions ;  his  sword  was  found  in  the  desert  of 
Arabia  and  his  followers  fought,  as  did  the  companions 
of  the  Prophet,  to  destroy  all  infidels. 

The  movement  is  chiefly  distinguished  from  the  ortho- 
dox system  in  the  following  particulars : 

I.  The  Wahabis  reject  Ijma,  or  the  agreement  of  later 
interpreters. 


DIVISION,   DISINTEGRATION    AND  REFORM  ISI 

2.  They  offer  no  prayer  to  prophet,  wah,  or  saint,  nor 
visit  their  tombs  for  that  purpose. 

3.  They  say  Mohammed  is  not  yet  an  mtercessor,  al 
though  at  the  last  day  he  will  be. 

4.  They  forbid  women  to  visit  the  graves  of  the  dead, 
c    They  allow  only  four  festivals. 

6   They  do  not  celebrate  Mohammed's  birthday. 

7.  They  use  their  knuckles  for  prayer-countmg,  and 

not  rosaries.  ,      ., 

8   Thev   strictlv  forbid  the  use  of  silk,   gold,   silver 

ornaments,  tobacco,  music,  opium,  and  every  luxury  of 

the  Orient,  except  perfume  and  women. 

g   They  have  anthropomorphic  ideas  of  GodJ)y  stm 

lyHteral  interpretation  of  the  Koran  texts  about     His 

'^''' Tht;  wLt^aci,  or  religious  war,  is  not  out  of 
date,  but  incumbent  on  believers  everywhere. 

II    They   condemn  minarets,  tombstones   and  every 
thing  that  was  not  in  use  during  the  first  years  of  Islam 
*There  is  no  doubt  that  Abd  ul  Wahab  hone^^  y^^j^^^ 
bring  about  a  reform,  and  that  m  many  of  the  po  nts 
enumerated  his  reform  was  strictly  a  return  to  primitive 
Islam     But  it  was  too  radical  to  last.     It  took  no  count 
o?  modern  civilization  and  the  ten  centuries  that  had 
modified  the  character  of  the  city  Arabs  not  to  speak  o 
those  outside  of  Arabia.     It  is  impossible  here  to  give 
even  the  outline  of  the  rise  of  the  Wahabi  state,  its  bloody 
conflicts  with  the  Arabs,  the  Turks  and  the  Eng^.sh,  and 
the  final  collapse  of  Wahabi  empire  in  Arabia.    The  story 
can  be  read  elsewhere. 

The  Wahabi  reformation  resembled  the  Refonnation  in 
Europe  (with  which  it  has  been  often  compared)  in  on^^ 
tiiree    respects.     It    was    iconoclastic    and    waged    war 


152  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

against  every  form  of  saint-worship.  It  acknowledged 
the  right  of  private  judgment  and  demanded  a  return  to 
primitive  beHefs.  It  was  fruitful  in  results  beyond  its 
own  horizon. 

But  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Blunt  does  not  go  too 
far  when  he  says :  ''Wahabiism  has  produced  a  real  de- 
sire for  reform,  if  not  reform  itself,  among  Moslems. 
Islam  is  no  longer  asleep,  and  were  another  and  a  wiser 
Abd  ul  Wahab  to  appear,  not  as  a  heretic,  but  in  the  body 
of  the  orthodox  sect,  he  might  play  the  part  of  a  Loyola 
or  Borromeo  with  success.''^ 

The  present  intellectual,  social  and  moral  condition  of 
the  old  Wahabi  empire,  Central  Arabia,  is  sufficient  com- 
mentary on  the  fact  that  even  a  Reformed  Islam  cannot 
save  or  elevate  a  people.  There  is  no  hope,  for  Arabia 
at  least,  in  Islam.  It  has  been  tried  for  thirteen  hundred 
years  and  signally  failed.  The  Wahabis  and  their  history 
only  emphasize  the  fact.  Nor  has  there  been  a  permanent 
moral  or  social  reformation  of  Islam  in  any  land  since 
the  day  of  its  origin.     It  is  a  hopeless  system. 

^In  the  "Future  of  Islam,"  quoted  in  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  662. 


THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE  MOSLEM 
WORLD 


"The  number  of  the  followers  of  Mohammed  is,  I  believe,  still 
larger  than  that  of  the  followers  of  Christ  (in  Protestant  lands)  : 
in  Europe  it  is  steadily  dwindling;  in  America  Islam  is  little 
known;  large  tracts  of  Asia  are  entirely  under  its  sway;  and  in 
Africa  it  is  not  only  dominant,  bi:t  shows  a  tendency  to  gain 
ground.  And  if  it  could  serve  as  a  half-way  house  between 
paganism  and  Christianity,  its  extension  might  be  regarded  with- 
out dismay;  but  experience  shows  that  there  are  no  such  half- 
way houses ;  the  road  from  darkness  to  light  must  be  unbroken ; 
a  half-way  house  is  a  bar  to  progress,  because  the  force  that 
should  have  lasted  to  the  end  of  the  journey  is  not  there  re- 
cruited, but  broken  and  exhausted.  There  is  this  further  terrible 
difficulty  in  facing  Islam,  that  it  represents  itself  as  an  advance 
on  the  Christian  system." — D.  S.  Margoliouth,  Laudian  Professor 
of  Arabic  at  Oxford. 


VIII 

THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  THE  MOSLEM 
WORLD 

A  World-wide  Religion. — If  we  regard  numbers,  Islam 
is  perhaps  the  mightiest  of  all  the  non-Christian  religions ; 
as  regards  its  geographical  distribution,  it  is  the  only  re- 
ligion beside  Christianity  which  holds  a  world-empire  of 
hearts  in  its  grasp;  and  its  wonderful  and  rapid  spread 
proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  is  a  great  missionary  re- 
ligion and  aims  at  world-conquest.  Mohammed's  word 
has  been  fulhlled :  "So  we  have  made  you  the  centre  of 
the  nations,  that  you  should  bear  witness  to  men."^  The 
old  pagan  pantheon  at  Mecca  has  become  the  religious 
capital  and  the  centre  of  universal  pilgrimage  for  one- 
seventh  of  the  human  race.  Islam  in  its  present  extent 
embraces  three  continents  and  counts  its  believers  from 
Sierra  Leone,  in  Africa,  to  Canton,  in  China,  and  from 
Tobolsk,  Siberia,  to  Singapore  and  Java.  In  Russia 
Moslems  spread  their  prayer-carpets  southward  toward 
Mecca;  at  Zanzibar  they  look  northward  to  the  Holy 
City ;  in  Khansu  and  Shensi,  millions  of  Chinese  Moslems 
pray  toward  the  west,  and  in  the  wade  Soudan  they  look 
eastward  toward  the  Beit  Allah  and  the  Black  Stone — a 
vast  Moslem  brotherhood. 

'Surah  ii,  Sale's  Koran,  i6,  note. 

155 


156  islam:     a  challenge  to  faith 

Arabic  is  the  language  of  the  Koran,  but  there  are  mil- 
Hons  of  IMoslems  who  cannot  understand  a  single  sen- 
tence of  Mohammed's  book,  for  they  speak  Russian, 
Turkisli,  Persian,  Pashtu,  Bengali,  Urdu,  Chinese,  Malay, 
Swahcli,  Hausa  and  other  languages.  Around  the  same 
Kaaba  diverse  lands  and  civilization  meet  every  year  to 
profess  one  religion  and  repeat  the  same  ritual.  On  the 
streets  of  Mecca  one  may  see  drawn  together  by  a  com- 
mon faith  the  Turkish  Effendi  in  Paris  costume,  with 
Constantinople  etiquette;  the  half-naked  Bedouin  of  the 
desert;  the  fierce  Afghan  mountaineer;  the  Russian 
trader  from  the  far  north ;  the  almond-eyed  Moslem  from 
V^unnan ;  the  Indian  graduate  from  the  Calcutta  univer- 
sities ;  Persians,  Somalis,  Hausas,  Javanese,  Soudanese, 
Egyptians,  Berbers,  Kabyles  and  Moors.  Mecca  at  the 
time  of  the  annual  pilgrimage  has  a  pilgrim  population 
of  about  sixty  thousand,  and  among  them  are  representa- 
tives of  every  nation  under  heaven.^ 

X umbers. — It  is  manifestly  impossible  to  obtain  any- 
thing better  than  a  careful  estimate  of  the  total  Moham- 
medan population  of  the  globe,  for  so  many  lands  that  are 
prevailingly  Moslem  have  never  had  a  census  nor  heard 
of  one,  and  there  is  great  micertainty  as  to  the  total  popu- 
lation of  large  districts  in  Africa  and  of  the  western 
provinces  of  China.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  needless  to 
discredit  all  such  statistical  estimates  or  say  w^ith  Pro- 
fessor \^ambery:  "The  rumors  current  about  the  un- 
counted millions  in  the  Dark  Continent,  in  China  and  in 
Arabia  deserve  as  much  credit  as  the  haphazard  numbers 
of  the  Mohammedans  of  Turkey,  Persia  and  Afghanistan  ; 
where  up  to  the  present  no  census  has  been  taken  and 

'See  Blunt's  Table  of  Mecca  Pilgrimage  in  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle 
of  Islam,"  33;  Hadji  Khan,  "With  the  Pilgrims  to  Mecca,"  168,  225,  226. 
(John  Lane:  New  York,  1905.) 


PRESENT   CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 57 

where  all  numerical  data  rest  upon  guesswork/'^  The 
following  estimates  of  the  total  Moslem  population  of  the 
world  at  least  prove  that  independent  investigations  lead 
to  the  belief  that  there  are  between  two  hundred  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  who  are  nominally  Moham- 
medans : 

"Statesman's  Year  Book,"  1890 203,600,000 

Brockhaus,  "Convers-Lex... jn,"   1894 175,000,000 

Hubert  Jansen,  "Verbreitnng  des  Islams,"  1897 259,680,672 

S.  M.  Zwemer  {Missionary  Review),  1898 196,491,842 

Algemeine  Missions  Zeitschrift,  1902 175,290,000 

H.  Wichmann,  in  Justus  Perthes'  "Atlas,"  1903 240,000,000 

William  Curtis,  in  "Syria  and  Palestine,"  1903 300,000,000 

Encyclopedia  of  Missions,  1904 193,550,000 

"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day."     (Cairo  Con- 
ference, 1907) 232.966,170 

The  discrepancy  in  these  estimates  depends  almost  en- 
tirely on  the  varying  estimates  of  the  number  of  Moslems 
in  the  Soudan  and  in  China.  For  the  rest  of  the  world 
there  seems  to  be  agreement.  The  most  careful  and  de- 
tailed statistics  can  be  found  in  Jansen,  and  the  conserva- 
tive results  obtained  in  the  papers  prepared  for  the  Cairo 
Conference  are  given  in  the  accompanying  table. 

Geographical  Distribution. — To  begin  with  Africa, 
where  Islam  has  covered  the  largest  area  in  its  conquest 
and  missionary  propaganda,  the  stronghold  of  Moham- 
medanism lies  along  the  Mediterranean.  North  of  twenty 
degrees  latitude  the  Moslems  constitute  ninety-one  per 
cent,  of  the  total  population.  Thirty-six  per  cent,  of 
Africa's  entire  population  is  Mohammedan,  or  nearly 
fifty-nine  million  souls  out  of  the  whole  number,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-four  million.  South  of  the  equator 
there  are  already  over  four  million  Mohammedans  and 

^In  an  article  on  "Pan-Islamism,"     The  Nineteenth   Century   for    October, 
1906. 


-K 


158  islam:     a  challenge  to  faith 

in  the  Congo  Free  State  there  are  said  to  be  nearly  two 
milHon.  The  situation  in  Africa  as  regards  Islam  is 
alarming,  and  can  be  summarized  in  the  words  of  the 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.  D. :  *'The  missionary  prob- 
lem of  Africa  is  not  paganism,  which  fast  crumbles  away 
before  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  but  Islam,  which  resists  like 
adamant  the  appeals  of  the  herald  of  the  cross.  The 
Christian  Church  has  not  yet  attacked  this  problem  with 
the  seriousness  and  earnestness  of  loving  witness  which 
the  undertaking  requires.  When  she  does,  her  Lord  will 
glorify  His  Church  and  Himself  by  crowning  her  efforts 
with  success."^  The  accompanying  map  of  Islam  in 
Africa  should  be  carefully  studied  in  connection  with  the 
table  of  statistics.  Dr.  W.  R.  Miller,  for  some  years  a 
missionary  in  West  Africa,  states  that  'Tslam  seems  to  be 
spreading  in  Lagos,  the  Yoruba  country,  Sierra  Leone, 
and  the  French  Soudan;  but  in  most  of  these  places,  as 
also  in  the  Nupe  country,  it  is  of  a  very  low  order,  and  in 
the  presence  of  a  vigorous  Christian  propaganda  it  will 
not  finally  add  strength  to  Islam.  Still  the  number  of 
Moslems  is  undoubtedly  increasing  rapidly.  Islam  and 
Christianity  between  them  are  spoiling  heathenism  and 
will  probably  divide  the  pagan  peoples  in  less  than  fifty 
years. "2  But  unless  the  Church  awakes  to  the  peril  of 
Islam  she  may  once  more  be  defeated  in  Africa.  *'The 
spread  of  Islam  in  Africa  is  one  of  the  most  striking  phe- 
nomena of  the  nineteenth  century  and  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  cultural  revival  of  the  Moslem  world  in 
Asia  is  the  feature  of  the  situation  which  is  of  the  gravest 
import.  There  are  three  currents  of  Mohammedanism 
which  are  spreading  in  Africa, — from  the  Upper  Nile, 

^"The   Mohammedan   World  of  To-Day,"  285. 
'Ibid.,  47. 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD 


159 


from  Zanzibar  into  the  Congo  region,  and  lastly  up  the 
Niger  basin.  Christianity,  which  is  only  a  feeble  plant  in 
these  regions,  is  likely  to  be  overwhelmed  altogether,  just 


UNOCCUPIED  MISSION   FIELDS   IN   AFRICA^ 
(Dots  represent  mission  stations) 

as    the    flourishing    North    African    Church   was    over- 
whelmed by  the  Arabs  at  an  earlier  stage  of  history."- 

^This  map  was  prepared  by  Professor  Wilson  S.  Naylor,  and  appeared  in 
The  Missionary  Review  of  the  H'orid  for  March,  1906. 

^Archibald  R.  Colquhoun,  in  article  on  '"  Pan-Islam,"  North  American  Re- 
view, June,    1906,   916. 


i6o 


ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 


Islam  in  Asia  and  Europe. — Of  the  total  population  of 
the  world  there  are  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine 
million  Moslems  in  Asia  and  about  five  million  in  Europe. 
Generally  speaking,  one-seventh  of  the  total  population  of 


MAP  SHOWING  THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MOSLEMS  IN  INDIA^ 


Asia,  and  of  the  world,  is  Mohammedan.  The  following 
countries  in  Asia  are  predominantly  and  some  almost 
wholly  Moslem :  Arabia,  Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia, 
Turkestan,  Bokhara,  Khiva,  Persia,  Afghanistan,  Balu- 

^"Census  of  India,"   1901,  Vol.  I.,  383. 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  l6l 

chistan,  Java,  Sumatra,  Celebes  and  the  Southern  islands 
of  the  Philippine  group.  In  Syria  and  Armenia  the  non- 
Moslem  population  outnumbers  that  of  Islam.  The  chief 
numerical  strength  of  the  Mohammedan  faith,  hozvever, 
is  in  India,  zvhich  has  a  larger  Moslem  population  than  all 
Africa  and  far  more  than  the  total  populations  of  Arabia, 
Persia,  Egypt  and  the  Turkish  Empire  combined.  By 
the  last  census  the  number  of  Moslems  in  India  is  62,458,- 
077.  In  Bengal,  including  Assam,  there  are  27,076,643, 
and  in  the  Punjaub,  12,183,345.  In  the  Dutch  East  Indies 
there  are  nearly  thirty  million  Moslems  out  of  a  total  pop- 
ulation of  thirty-six  millions.  The  number  of  Moslems  in 
China  is  variously  given  from  twenty  to  thirty  or  even 
forty  millions.^  The  largest  number  is  in  the  province  of 
Kansu,  in  the  extreme  northwest,  where  8,550,000  are 
reported.  Some  6,500,000  are  found  in  Shensi,  in  the 
north,  and  3,500,000  in  Yunnan,  in  the  extreme  south- 
west. In  Peking  there  are  100,000  IMoslems,  and  Canton 
has  four  mosques. 

"Mohammedans  in  China,  at  least  in  fifteen  out  of  the 
eighteen  provinces,  have  become  merged  in  the  Chinese 
population  and  are  hardly  distinguishable  from  their 
neighbors.  They  speak  the  language  of  the  country  in 
which  they  live  and  wear  its  costume;  there  are  some 
physical  features  by  which  they  may  be  differentiated, 
their  cheek  bones  being  generally  more  prominent  and 
their  noses  better  shaped  than  the  majority  of  the  Chi- 
nese, and  they  have  a  habit  of  clipping  the  mustache  which 
the  Chinese  do  not  follow.  They  do  not  intermarry  with 
the  Chinese,  but   frequently  adopt  native  children   into 

iThe  latter  number  is  far  too  large,  but  is  given  by  Mon.  E.  Lamairesse 
in  his  "Theologie  Musulmane,"  viii.  (Carre:  Paris,  1894.)  "The  States- 
roan's  Year  Book"  gives  30,000,000.  The  figures  for  India  are  taken  from 
the  same  source  (edition  1907). 


1 62  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

their  families.  They  make  no  attempt  to  convert  their 
Chinese  neighbors,  and  the  rehgious  opinions  which  they 
hold  are,  to  a  great  extent,  unknown  to  outsiders."^ 

In  the  Philippines  there  are  about  300,000  Moslems ;  a 
German  authority  puts  the  number  at  420,000.^  The 
total  number  of  Moslems  in  the  Russian  Empire,  chiefly 
in  Asia,  is  given  in  the  "Statesman's  Year  Book"  as 
13,906,972,  which  equals  9.47  per  cent,  of  the  total  popu- 
lation, while  the  Russian  Jews  number  only  3.55  per 
cent.^     For  other  lands  see  the  map  and  appendix. 

Distribution  by  Languages. — The  sacred  language  of 
Islam  is  Arabic.  Mohammed  called  it  the  language  of 
the  angels.  And  the  Arabic  Koran  is  to  this  day  the  text 
book  in  all  Moslem  schools  of  Turkey,  Afghanistan, 
Java,  Sumatra,  New  Guinea,  Russia  and  China.  Arabic 
is  the  spoken  language  not  only  of  Arabia  Proper,  but 
forces  the  linguistic  boundary  of  that  peninsula  three 
hundred  miles  north  of  Bagdad  to  Diarbekr  and  Mardin, 
and  is  used  all  over  Syria,  Palestine  and  the  whole  of 
Northern  Africa.  As  a  written  language  it  has  millions 
of  readers  in  every  part  of  the  Moslem  world ;  and  yet  to 
three-fourths  of  the  believers  Arabic  is  a  dead  language 
and  not  understood  of  the  people.  Still  all  public  worship 
and  all  daily  prayer  must  be  in  the  Arabic  tongue.  In 
the  Philippine  Islands  the  first  chapter  of  the  Arabic 
Koran  is  repeated  before  dawn  paints  the  sky  red.  The 
refrain  is  taken  up  in  Moslem  prayers  at  Pekin  and  is 
repeated  across  the  whole  of  China.     It  is  heard  in  the 

*"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day."  Rev.  W.  Gilbert  Walshe,  in 
"Islam  in  China,"  249-264.  This  account  conflicts,  however,  with  that  of 
T.  W.  Arnold,  who  says  the  Moslems  form  separate  communities  and  in- 
termarry with  the  Chinese.     See  Chap.  Ill,  70-72. 

2Dr.  Ernest  Faber,  in  Zeitschrift  des  hvangelischen  Frotestantischen  Mis- 
sions Vcreins. 

""Statesman's   Year  Book,"   1382.     (1907.) 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  163 

valleys  of  the  Himalayas  and  on**The  Roof  of  the  World." 
A  little  later  the  Persians  pronounce  these  Arabic 
words,  and  then  across  the  peninsula  the  muezzins  call 
the  "faithful"  to  the  same  prayer.  At  the  waters  of  the 
Nile  the  cry,  ''Allahu  akbar,"  is  again  sounded  forth, 
ever  carrying  the  Arab  speech  westward  across  the 
Soudan,  the  Sahara  and  the  Barbary  States,  until  it  is  last 
heard  in  the  mosques  of  IMorocco  and  Rio  de  Oro.  As 
the  speech  of  the  Moslem  conquest,  the  influence  of  the 
Arabic  language  on  other  tongues  and  peoples  has  also 
been  great,  ever  since  the  rise  of  Islam.  The  Persian 
language  adopted  the  Arabic  alphabet  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  Arabic  words  and  phrases,  so  that,  as  Renan 
remarks,^  in  some  Persian  books  all  the  words  are  Arabic 
and  only  the  grammar  remains  in  the  vernacular.  As 
for  Hindustani,  three-fourths  of  its  vocabulary  consists  of 
Arabic  words  or  Arabic  words  derived  through  the  Per- 
sian. The  Turkish  language  also  is  indebted  for  many 
words  taken  from  the  Arabic  and  uses  the  Arabic  alpha- 
bet. The  Malay  language,  through  the  Aloslem  conquest, 
was  also  touched  by  Arabic  influence  and  likewise  adopted 
its  alphabet.  In  Africa  its  influence  was  yet  more  strong- 
ly felt.  The  language  extended  over  all  the  northern 
half  of  the  continent  and  is  still  growing  in  use  to-day. 
The  geographical  nomenclature  of  the  interior  is  Arabic, 
and  Arabs  preceded  Livingstone,  Stanley  and  Speke  in 
all  their  journeys.  The  languages  of  the  southern  Soudan, 
the  Hausa.  and  even  those  of  Guinea  borrowed  largely 
from  the  Arabic.  Europe  itself  did  not  escape  the  in- 
fluence of  the  conquering  Semitic  tongue,  as  is  evident  in 
Spain  and  Italy.  But  Islam  spread  even  more  rapidly 
than  did  the  language  of  the  Koran,  and  in  consequence 

^Ernest   Renan,   "Histoire  des   Langues   Semitiques." 


164  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

the  Mohammedan  world  of  to-day  is  no  longer  of  one 
speech,  but  polyglot.^  The  Mohammedans,  so  far  from 
thinking,  as  some  suppose,  that  the  Koran  is  profaned  by 
a  translation,  have  themselves  made  translations,  but 
always  interlinear  ones  with  the  original  text,  into  Per- 
sian, Urdu,  Pushtu,  Turkish,  Javan,  Malayan,  and  two 
or  three  other  languages,  but  such  copies  of  the  Koran  in 
two  languages  are,  however,  expensive  and  rare. 

A  table  was  prepared  for  the  Cairo  Conference,  show- 
ing into  which  languages,  spoken  by  Moslems  as  their 
vernaculars,  the  Bible  has  been  translated  in  whole  or  in 
part.  It  shows  at  once  the  polyglot  character  of  Islam 
and  the  splendid  array  of  weapons  prepared  in  God's 
providence  for  the  spiritual  conquest  of  the  Moslem 
world.- 

^An  approximate  estimate  shows  that  63,000,000  Moslems  speak  the  rsrn- 
guages  of  India;  only  45,000,000  speak  Arabic  as  their  mother  tongue;  32,- 
000,000  use  African  languages  other  than  Arabic;  31,000,000  Moslems  in 
China,  Chinese-Turkestan  and  among  the  Chinese  of  Southern  Asia  speak 
Chinese;  30,000,000  the  languages  of  the  Malay  Archipelago;  and  other  mil- 
lions  Turkish  Slavonic  and   Turkish,   as  indicated   on  page   166. 

^Table  showing  into  which  languages,  spoken  by  Moslems  as  their  ver- 
naculars, the  Bible  has  been  translated  in  whole  or  in  part: 

1.  Arabic:  whole  Bible. 

2.  Persian:   whole   Bible. 

3.  Urdu:   whole  Bible. 

4.  Turkish — 

Ottoman:    whole    Bible. 
Azarbaijani:  whole  Bible. 
Uzbek:   four  Gospels. 
Bashkir:  four  Gospels. 
Jagatai:   St.   Matthew. 
Kalmuk:   New  Testament. 
Karass:  New  Testament. 

5.  Pashto:   whole  Bible. 

6.  Bilochi:  portions. 

7.  Malay — 

High) 

Low  /  portions. 

8.  Javanese:  portions. 

9.  Kisuahelj;  whole  Bible. 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 65 

The  chief  Hterary  languages  of  Islam  next  to  Arabic 
are  Turkish,  Persian,  Urdu  and  Bengali.  In  all  of  these 
languages  there  is  a  large  Moslem  religious  literature, 
dogmatic,  apologetic  and  controversial.  Even  in  Chinese 
there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  Mohammedan  litera- 
ture. Some  works  are  published  under  the  imprimatur 
of  the  Emperor,  but  a  translation  of  the  Koran  is  not  per- 
mitted.^ 

Political  Divisions. — The  present  political  division  of 
the  Mohammedan  world  is  a  startling  evidence  of  the 
finger  of  God  in  history  and  an  unpredecented  missionary 
challenge  to  the  churches  of  Christendom.  Once  jNloslem 
empire  was  co-extensive  with  I^Ioslem  faith.  In  907  A.  D. 
the  Caliphate  of  political  power  included  Spain,  Morocco, 
Algiers,  Tunis,  Tripoli,  Egypt,  Asia  :\Iinor,  Syria,  Arabia, 
Persia,  Turkestan,  Afghanistan,  Baluchistan  and  the  re- 
gion around  the  Caspian  Sea.  To-day  the  empire  of 
Abdul  Hamid,  Caliph  of  all  believers,  has  shrunk  to  such 
small  proportions  that  it  includes  less  than  sixteen  million 
Moslems  and  covers  only  Turkey,  Asia  IMinor,  Tripoli  and 
one-fifth  of  Arabia.  The  following  table  shows  the  pres- 
ent division  of  the  Mohammedan  population  of  the  world 

TO.  Hausa :   portions. 

11.  Kurdish — 

Kirmanshahi:  four  Gospels;  also  the  New  Testament  in  another  dia- 
lect of  Kurdish,  but  printed  in  Armenian  characters. 

12.  Bengali   (:\lusalmani) :  portions. 

13.  Chinese:    -.vhole   Bible. 

14.  Ki-ganda:  whole  Bible. 

15.  Berber:   two   Gospels. 

16.  Kabyle:   New  Testament. 

17.  Albanian:  New  Testament. 

18.  Kashmiri:   whole  Bible  (but  not  in  Arabic  character  for  Moslems). 

19.  Gujarati:   whole  Bible  (but  not  in  Arabic  character). 

20.  Punjabi:  Bible  (parts  in  Arabic  character  and  in  language  understood 

by  Aloslems).— "Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among  Moslems,"  87,88. 
i"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day."    Rev.   Gilbert  Walslie"s  paper  on 
"Islam  in  China,"  260. 


1 66  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

as  regards  governments.  It  was  prepared  prior  to  the 
Algeciras  Conference,  and  the  more  recent  disturbances 
which  practically  make  Morocco  a  protected  State: 

MOHAMMEDAN    POPULATION    UNDER   CHRISTIAN    RULE   OR   PROTECTION 

Great  Britain  in  Africa 17,920,330 

Great  Britain  in  Asia 63,633,783 

81,554,113 

France  in  Africa 27,849,580 

France  in  Asia 1,455,238 

29,304,818 

Germany  in  Africa 2,572,500 

Italy,  Portugal  and  Spain  in  Africa 722,1^7 

The  United  States  in  Asia 300,000 

The  Netherlands  in  Asia 29,289,440 

Russia  in  Europe  and  Asia 15,889,420 

Other  States  in  Europe ;  Greece,  etc 1,360^402 

Australasia  and  America 68,000 

Grand  total 161,060,870 

UNDER   NON-CHRISTIAN   RULERS 

Africa 2,950,000 

Chinese  Empire^ 30,000,000 

Siam 1,000,000 

Formosa 25,500 

Total 33,976,500 

UNDER  TURKISH  RULE 

Europe 2,050,000 

Africa 1,250,000 

Asia 12,228,800 

Total ' 15,528,800 

UNDER  OTHER  MOSLEM  RULERS 

Morocco 5,600,000 

Oman  and  Nej  d,  etc 3,500,000 

Afghanistan 4,500,000 

Persia 8,800,000 

Total 22,400,000 

Grand  total 71,905,300 

*The  latest  estimates  give  30,000,000  and  not  20,000,000  for  China. 


STATISTICAL  SURVEY   OF  THE  MOHAMMEDAN   WORLD 

l^EPAHED  FOB  THE  CaIRO  CONFERENCE  BV  ChARLES  R.   WaTSON  AND  SaMOEL  M.    ZwEMER   (ReVISED) 

ATRICA 

Population 

Moslems 

AFRICA 

Moslems 

ASIA 

lopvilation 

Moslems 

ASIA                       1       Population               Moslems 

M<So«co 

I'i'i 

III.      COCNIB.M     lYlNO     Be- 

mo.'isi 

11: 

1};;::.: 

II'. : 

2li 

30.000 

IE 

24"','i"l" 

2.-i,4'r'  ; 

1     40,000 

" '"                  675!oob 

..       1         1.455,238 

23.803.062 

KoKenSj-S,.,.    ■■ 

iE 

ill 
is"  si 

'ii 

72  500 

TtviPN  Tnr    LqoATon 

Total                         

52.276.481 

3.840,01.1 

":;■' '""■" 

'Hi 

15.000 

:,      ■,          ^          .„:,„„,.. 

1.50,™ 

1.2uo!oOO 

i      ';"::;; 

^■,- 

6.676.444 

65.000 

\        IBEAKDS    ADOtJT    Arwc* 

irilE,        :::::::::. 

re"°'d"p„'°e"t'|.    

ilJ:?2l 

RaiOWnni    " 

Tolall™  I,„i,a 

284.361.056 

62.4.-,;,,i': 

SS?;™ 

g=r;„-;M,. 

Ul 

^B^B"L.. , 

iiiiii 

03.6n::,r 

ti.iwi.imi 

5,000.000 

■  25!500 

Srvid?",,:';,!.;::::::::- 

&:;■■■■::::;;.■;..;;;:; 

"1;i 

',.„,.,„;...,.  ,.'':"°"""; 

0jl.30.20p 

2  050  000 

3.800.020 

178.708 

ded  under  Asia) 

Total  for  Africa 

103.736.683 

Among  cIHipurtion.... 

D,:TC„  E.ST  lNO,E= 

24,270.600 

0S.O0O 

.623.181 

Total  for  Dutch  E.  Indies.... 

36.000.000 

20,289,440 

'"'""'"•■' 

yea.  Bo.*,  1907 

>  For  detail,  see  Dr.  Hubert  Jan.en's  Kertreili. 

PRESENT  CONDITION  OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 67 

This  table  shows  that  the  balance  of  political  power  in 
the  Mohammedan  world  is  in  the  hands  of  England, 
France,  Russia  and  the  Netherlands.  Each  of  these  Eu- 
ropean powers  is  deeply  concerned  in  the  future  of  Islam, 
since  each  has  more  Moslem  subjects  than  there  are  in 
the  whole  Turkish  empire.  Germany  has  over  two  and 
a  half  million  Mohammedans  under  her  flag  in  Africa, 
and  she,  too,  is  deeply  concerned  in  the  future  of  Islam. 
The  total  number  of  Mohammedans  under  the  rule  or 
protection  of  Christian  powers  is  161,060,870,  and  it  does 
not  require  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  see  yet  greater  future 
political  changes  in  the  Levant,  Arabia  and  Persia  than 
have  taken  place  in  Africa  during  the  past  two  decades, 
with  the  result  of  adding  more  millions  to  this  number — 
and  to  the  responsibility  of  Christian  rulers. 

Present  Political  Unrest. — Because  of  the  urgent  duty 
of  Jihad,  or  warfare  for  the  spread  of  Islam,  the  whole 
world  came  to  be  regarded  from  the  days  of  the  Caliphs, 
both  by  the  propagandists  of  the  faith  and  by  the  rulers 
of  Moslem  lands,  as  divided  into  two  great  portions — the 
Dar-iil-Harh  and  the  Dar-ul-Islam,  the  territory  of  war 
and  the  territory  of  Islam.  These  two  divisions,  one  of 
which  represented  the  lands  of  infidels  and  darkness,  the 
other  of  true  believers  and  light,  were  supposed  to  be  in 
a  continual  state  of  open  or  latent  belligerency  until  Islam 
should  have  absorbed  the  lands  of  infidelity  or  made  them 
subject.  All  works  on  Moslem  law  and  jurisprudence 
treat  at  length  of  this  subject  and  define  the  rights  of 
Zirnmis,  or  non-Moslem  subjects,  who  live  under  a  Mos- 
lem government.^  Islam  contemplated  a  zvorld-empire, 
political  as  zvell  as  spiritual. 

iSee  article  "Zimmi"  in  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam."  Hamilton, 
"Hedaya,"  Vol.  II,  passim.  Shedd,  "Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches," 
91-139. 


l68  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

But  history  has  turned  the  tables,  as  we  have  seen,  and 
three- fourths  of  the  two  hundred  miUions  of  "true  be- 
Hevers"  are  now  under  non-AIosiem  rule.  In  proportion, 
therefore,  as  during  the  past  century  the  political  inde- 
pendence of  Moslem  countries  was  threatened  or  annihi- 
lated, there  arose  unrest,  envy  and  open  or  secret  rebellion 
against  non-Moslem  rule.  The  pilgrims  meeting  at  Mecca 
from  distant  lands  all  had  the  same  story  to  tell — the 
infidel  governments  were  taking  possession  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan world.  Fifty  years  ago  an  Arabic  pamphlet 
was  sent  out  by  a  learned  theologian  at  Mecca,  Ahmad  al 
Barzinji  al  Hasaini,  entitled  "General  Advice  to  the 
Kings  and  Peoples  of  Islam."  It  drew  attention  to  the 
steadily  increasing  political  power  of  Christian  nations, 
to  the  crying  wrongs  and  cruelties  committed  by  them 
against  Islam,  and  pointed  out  the  only  way  of  escape 
from  total  destruction.^  About  the  year  1905  there  ap- 
peared in  the  Cairo  paper,  Ez-Zahir,  a  proclamation  to 
Indians  and  Egyptians  to  rise  against  England,  of  Vvdiich 
the  following  extracts  will  suffice  to  show  w^hat  Egyptian 
Moslems  think  of  British  rule:  'Tt  is  thus  that  the 
English  suck  the  blood  of  millions  of  Indians,  and  when 
a  few  years  ago  the  cholera  broke  out,  ravaging  the 
country  frightfully,  the  English,  instead  of  using  pre- 
ventive measures,  did  nothing  to  stop  the  evil.  India  has 
become  a  place  of  pleasure-trips  and  sport  for  the  Brit- 
isher. The  Indian  chiefs  give  valuable  presents  to  the 
visitor,  who  returns  richly  laden  to  his  country,  parading 
at  the  same  time  the  honesty,  integrity  and  incorruptibil- 
ity of  his  nation.  .  .  .  And  then  was  it  not  the  English 
Government  which  appointed  Warren  Hastings,  a  most 
ignorant,  corrupt  and  tyrannical  fellow,  as  ruler  over  the 

^The  Nineteenth  Century,  October,  1906,  548. 


PRESENT   CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 69 

whole  of  India?  It  was  only  after  numberless  complaints 
of  crying  injustices  had  reached  the  Central  Government 
that  he  was  dismissed  from  ofiice.  Well,  such  is  the 
manner  of  acting  of  the  famous,  just,  civilized  and  mod- 
erate English.  Happily  their  policy  of  infinite  treachery 
and  ruse  is  beginning  to  burst,  and  the  time  of  revenge 
against  these  insolent,  overbearing  and  haughty  oppres- 
sors has  arrived  at  last.  The  elongated  shadow  of  the 
afternoon  sun  of  their  power  will  soon  disappear.  When 
His  Majesty  the  King  of  England,  in  a  speech  from  the 
throne,  said :  'We  shall  accord  liberty  and  independence 
to  the  people  of  the  Transvaal,  in  order  to  facilitate  their 
progress  and  to  secure  their  attachment  to  the  Crown,' 
the  people  of  India  may  well  ask,  'Why  are  similar  con- 
cessions not  accorded  to  India,  or  are  the  Indians  less 
capable  and  less  gifted  than  the  South  Africans?'  And, 
further,  if  the  English  avail  themselves  of  such  pretexts, 
who  is  the  cause  of  our  having  remained  behind — we,  the 
quiet  and  obedient  people,  or  the  so-called  disinterested, 
magnanimous  teacher  ? 

"It  is  all  useless  to  misrepresent  facts,  for  it  is  patent 
that  there  is  no  difference  between  India  of  to-day  and 
between  India  of  the  middle  ages,  and  all  higli-sounding 
statements  about  our  great  strides  in  civilization  is  but 
grandiloquent,  empty  talk.  Nobody  can  deny  that  tb.e 
Indians  were  formerly  the  great  owners  of  Central  Asia ; 
their  culture  was  predominant,  and  some  of  their  towns 
became  the  centre  of  learning  and  knowledge,  from  which 
it  had  spread  to  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  world.  Until 
quite  recently  nobody  knew  scarcely  anything  about 
Japan ;  but  unity,  coupled  with  the  firm  and  resolute  in- 
tention of  a  handful  of  men,  has  produced  extraordinary 
results  and  vanquished  the  once  much-dreaded  power  of 


170  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

the  North.  Afraid  of  this  wonderful  success,  proud  and 
haughty  Albion  had  to  condescend  and  to  seek  the  friend- 
ship and  alliance  of  Japan,  which  occupies  to-day  a  fore- 
most rank  amongst  the  great  nations  of  the  world,  where- 
as India,  having  passed  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  under 
foreign  rule,  is  still  in  need  of  instruction  and  education. 
This  is  what  we  know  as  the  result  of  British  rule  in 
India.  Are  we  not  entitled  to  ask  what  will  become  of 
Egypt  under  the  rule  of  the  same  power ;  of  Egypt,  known 
as  the  Beauty  of  the  East,  the  trade  centre  of  the  world, 
and  the  Lord  of  the  Seas ;  of  Egypt,  whose  export  has 
lately  risen  to  a  height  never  attained  by  India?  We 
consequently  ask :  Has  the  time  not  come  yet  when, 
uniting  the  suppressed  wailings  of  India  with  our  own 
groans  and  sighs  in  Egypt,  we  should  say  to  each  other, 
'Come  and  let  us  be  one,  following  the  divine  words,  Vic- 
tory belongs  to  the  united  forces'?"^ 

The  former  French  Minister  of  the  Interior,  M.  G. 
Hanotaux,  in  a  series  of  articles  in  the  Journal  de  Paris, 
1906,  spoke  of  the  political  menace  of  Islam  in  Algiers 
and  the  French  Soudan  as  a  constant  peril  not  only  to 
French  rule,  but  to  Christian  civilization.  "Dangerous 
firebrands  of  discontent  are  ever  smouldering  under  the 
resigned  surface  of  these  conquered  races,  which  have 
been  often  defeated  but  never  discouraged.  The  relig- 
ious orders  of  Islam,  failing  a  political  leader  for  the  pres- 
ent, are  yet  keeping  their  powder  dry  for  the  day  of  the 
great  slaughter  and  the  great  victory."- 

The  same  spirit  of  unrest  obtains  in  Java  and  Sumatra, 
where  Dutch  rule,  altho  so  favorable  to  Islam,  seems  to 

^Quoted  in  full  in  Professor  A.  Vambery's  article  in  The  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, October,   1006. 

-A  synopsis  of  these  important  articles  appeared  in  Der  Soudan  Pionier, 
Wiesbaden,   February,  1907. 


PRESENT   COiNTDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  I7I 

gall  their  pride  and  awaken  their  desire  for  autonomy. 
The  editor  of  the  official  organ  of  the  Barmen  Mission, 
which  has  had  so  much  success  among  the  Mohammedans 
in  Sumatra,  wrote  a  few  years  ago:  "We  have  often 
been  forced  to  observe  that  the  whole  Mohammedan 
world  is  connected  by  secret  threads,  and  that  a  defeat 
which  Islam  suffers  in  any  part  of  the  world,  or  a  triumph 
which  she  can  claim,  either  real  or  fictitious,  has  its 
reflex  action  even  on  the  work  of  our  missionaries  in  the 
Mohammedan  part  of  Sumatra.  Thus  the  recent  massa- 
cres in  Armenia  have  filled  the  Mohammedans  in  this 
part  of  Sumatra  with  pride.  They  say  to  the  Christians : 
'You  see  now  that  the  Raja  of  Stamboul  (that  is,  the 
Sultan  of  Constantinople)  is  the  one  whom  none  can 
withstand;  and  he  will  soon  come  and  set  Sumatra  free, 
and  then  we  shall  do  with  the  Christians  as  the  Turks 
did  with  the  Armenians.'  And  it  is  a  fact  that  a  consid- 
erable number  of  Mohammedans  who  were  receiving  in- 
struction as  candidates  for  baptism  have  gone  back  since 
the  receipt  of  this  news."  A  mass  meeting  of  Indian 
Moslems,  attended  by  over  four  thousand  persons,  was 
held  in  Calcutta  on  May  20,  1906,  to  protest  against  the 
action  of  the  British  Government  in  the  matter  of  the 
Egyptian  boundary  dispute,  and  in  the  resolution  passed 
"the  Mohammedans  of  Calcutta  express  profound  regret 
and  dissatisfaction  at  the  unhappy  policy  which  has  cul- 
minated in  strained  relations  between  His  Imperial 
Majesty,  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  the  spiritual  head  of 
millions  of  Mohammedans,  and  the  British  Govern- 
ment."^ 

This  attitude  of  Moslems  to-day  toward  Christian  gov- 
ernments is  sometimes  a  real  danger  to  their  civilizing 

^Correspondence,    The  New  York  Sun,  June  20,  1906. 


172  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

efforts,  but  is  more  often  used  by  Moslems  themselves  as 
a  scarecrow  for  political  purposes.  And  then,  through 
fear  of  Moslem  fanaticism,  real  or  invented,  the  Chris- 
tian powers  of  Europe  grant  Islam  favors  and  prestige  in 
Asia  and  Africa  which  strict  neutrality  in  matters  of 
religion  would  never  countenance  and  which  are  not 
shown  to  the  Christian  faith.  Here  are  some  striking 
examples  of  this  short-sighted  and  un-Christian  policy. 
In  West  Africa  the  British  Government  has  become  in- 
volved "in  backing  up  Islam  politically  and  inevitably  re- 
ligiously also.  Repairing  broken-down  mosques,  by 
order,  subscriptions  to  Mohammedan  feasts,  forcible  cir- 
cumcision of  heathen  soldiers  on  enlistment,  etc.,  etc., 
are  some  of  the  ways  in  which  the  general  trend  is  indi- 
cated."^ The  British  Government,  while  professing  to 
be  neutral,  hampers  Christian  missions,  but  allows  Islam 
freedom  to  proselytize.  In  Egypt  the  British  Govern- 
ment is  especially  favorable  to  Mohammedan  interests 
and  pays  undue  respect  to  Moslem  prejudices  at  the  ex- 
pense of  Christians.  There  are  glaring  instances  of  in- 
justice against  Christians  in  the  courts  which,  for  ex- 
ample, are  also  open  on  Sundays  and  closed  on  Fridays.^^ 
When  the  Sacred  Kiswa,  or  covering  for  the  Kaaba  at 
Mecca,  leaves  Cairo,  or  returns,  I  was  told  that  British 
soldiers,  as  well  as  native  infantry,  are  drawn  up  to  salute 
it.  And  at  the  Gordon  Memorial  College,  Khartoum,  the 
Bible  has  no  place,  but  the  Koran  is  a  required  text  book, 
and  Friday  is  the  weekly  holiday.  If  Moslems  could  be 
won  over  to  loyalty  by  such  f avprs  and  favoritism,  surely 
Java  and  Sumatra  would  be  an  example.  The  contrary 
is  the  case.     **The  idea    of    some  colonial  rulers  that 

^"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  46,  47. 
^Ibid.,  29,  30. 


I  « 


ife*^- 


t 


i^^ 


EGYPTIAN    SOLDIERS    ESCORTING    THE    MAHMAL 

The  picture  shows  some  of  the  :Mosleni  population  of  Cairo  at  the  Pro- 
cession of  the  Mahmai,  or  triumphal  camel-litter,  which  accompanies  the 
Kiswah,  or  sacred  covering  of  the  Kaaba,  sent  annually  from  Egypt. 

I/- 


PRESENT   CONDITION   OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 73 

Mohammedans  can  be  won  over  to  loyalty  in  a  peaceful 
way  has  been  clearly  disproved  in  Achin.  In  order  to 
please  the  Moslems,  a  splendid  mosque  was  built  in  Achin 
by  the  Dutch  Government,  but  very  few  Achinese  ever 
come  to  it."^  The  present  attitude  of  the  Dutch  Colonial 
Government  has  wisely  been  entirely  changed.  Chris- 
tianity now  finds  protection  and  Islam  no  unfair  favors. 
"Christian  chiefs  are  given  a  share  in  judicial  administra- 
tion, so  as  to  counteract  the  oppression  of  the  Moslems, 
and  Christian  missions  desiring  to  begin  work  in  terri- 
tories still  pagan  or  threatened  with  Mohammedan  propa- 
ganda are  assisted  by  the  government. "- 

Social  Condition  of  Moslem  Lands. — The  present  social 
and  moral  condition  of  Mohammedan  lands  and  of  Mos- 
lems in  all  lands  is  not  such  as  it  is  in  spite  of,  but  because 
of,  their  religion.  The  law  of  cause  and  effect  has  oper- 
ated for  over  a  thousand  years  under  every  possible  natu- 
ral and  political  environment,  among  Semites,  Negroes, 
Aryan  races  and  Slavs.  The  results  are  so  sadly  similar 
that  they  form  a  terrible  and  unanszverahle  indictment  of 
the  social  and  moral  zveakness  of  Islam.  There  is  no 
better  proof  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  religion  of  Aloham- 
med  than  a  study  of  the  present  intellectual,  social  and 
moral  condition  of  Arabia.  Cradled  at  Mecca,  fostered 
at  Medina,  and  reformed  in  the  Nejd,  Islam  has  had  un- 
disputed possession  of  the  entire  peninsula  for  almost 
thirteen  centuries.  In  other  lands,  such  as  Syria  and 
Egypt,  it  remained  in  contact  with  a  more  or  less  corrupt 
form  of  Christianity,  or,  as  in  India  and  in  China,  in  con- 
flict with  cultured  heathenism,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
in  both  cases  there  were  and  are  mutual  concessions  and 


i"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  212. 
2Ibid.,  225. 


174  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

influences.  But  in  its  native  Arabian  soil  the  tree  planted 
by  the  Prophet  has  grown  with  wild  freedom  and  brought 
forth  fruit  after  its  kind.  As  regards  morality,  Arabia  is 
on  a  low  plane.  Slavery  and  concubinage  exist  every- 
where; while  polygamy  and  divorce  are  fearfully  com- 
mon. Fatalism,  the  philosophy  of  the  masses,  has  para- 
lyzed progress,  and  injustice  is  stoically  accepted.  Bribery 
is  too  common  to  be  a  crime,  lying  is  a  fine  art  and  rob- 
bery has  been  reduced  to  a  science.  Doughty  and  Pal- 
grave,  who  both  crossed  the  heart  of  the  peninsula,  have 
given  it  as  their  verdict  that  there  is  no  hope  for  Arabia 
in  Islam.  It  has  been  tried  zealously  for,  thirteen  hun- 
dred years  and  piteously  failed. 

Arabia  is  only  typical  of  other  Moslem  lands.  Social 
and  moral  conditions  are  no  better  in  Persia,  Afghanistan, 
Baluchistan,  Tripoli  or  Morocco.  The  holy  cities  of  Per- 
sia are  hot-beds  of  immorality.^  Polygamy  and  divorce 
are  common.  Marriage  often  takes  place  when  the  girl 
is  seven  or  nine  years  of  age,  in  accordance  with 
Mohammed's  example  in  the  case  of  Ayesha.^  The  low 
moral  condition  of  Baluchistan  and  Afghanistan  is  in- 
describable. Girls  are  put  up  at  auction  and  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder,  while  compensation  for  blood  is  often 
ordered  paid  in  yet  unborn  female  children.^ 

In  the  Kelat  State  the  vilest  orgies  are  enacted  at  the 
court  of  the  Khan,  and  among  the  Baluchis  immorality 
is  so  common  among  the  Moslem  clergy  that  syphilis 
is  spoken  of  as  the  Mullah's  disease.^  One  who  has  been 
a  missionary  for  years  in  India  testifies :  "However  the 
phenomenon  may  be  accounted  for,  we,  after  mixing  with 


iDr.  W.  St.  Clair  Tisdall,  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  117. 

'A.   Duncan  Dixey,   in  Ibid.,   141. 

•"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  139,  140. 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 75 

Hindus  and  Mohainmedans  for  nineteen  years  back, 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  latter  are  as  a  whole 
some  degrees  lower  in  the  social  and  moral  scale  than  the 
former."^ 

Polygamy  has  not  diminished  licentiousness  in  any 
Moslem  land,  but  everywhere  increased  it.  ''Immorality 
among  African  Mohammedans  is  commonly  indescrib- 
able. It  is  worse  among  the  Arabs  of  the  intensely 
Mohammedan  countries  to  the  north  than  it  is  among  the 
Negro  races  to  the  south. "- 

And  to  complete  the  picture  of  social  Islam  in  the 
twentieth  century,  here  is  a  sketch  of  the  slave-market  at 
Mecca — this  open  slave-market  is  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  ''the  house  of  God/'  at  the  centre  of  the  Moslem  world : 
"Go  there  and  see  for  yourself  the  condition  of  the  human 
chattels  you  purchase.  You  will  find  them,  thanks  to  the 
vigilance  of  British  cruisers,  less  numerous  and  conse- 
quently more  expensive  than  they  were  in  former  years ; 
but  there  they  are,  flung  pell-mell  in  the  open  square. 
.  .  .  The  dealer,  standing  by,  cried  out:  'Come  and 
buy;  the  first-fruits  of  the  season,  delicate,  fresh  and 
green ;  come  and  buy,  strong  and  useful,  faithful  and  hon- 
est. Come  and  buy.'  The  day  of  sacrifice  was  past  and 
the  richer  pilgrims  in  their  brightest  robes  gathered 
around.  One  among  them  singled  out  the  girl.  They 
entered  a  booth  together.  The  mother  was  left  behind. 
One  word  she  uttered,  or  was  it  a  moan  of  inarticulate 
grief?  Soon  after  the  girl  came  back.  And  the  dealer, 
when  the  bargain  was  over,  said  to  the  purchaser:  T 
sell  you  this  property  of  mine,  the  female  slave,  Narcis- 

ij.  Vaupban,  in  Jessup,  "Mohammedan  IMissionary  Problem,"  47.  The 
same  testimony  is  given  by  other  missionaries  in  Bengal  and  the  Punjaub. 
See  also   Dennis,   "Christian   Missions  and   Social   Progress,"   Vol.   I,  91. 

'Charles  R.  Watson,  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  284. 


176  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

sus,  for  the  sum  of  forty  pounds/  Thus  the  bargain  was 
dinched.  .  .  .  Men  slaves  could  be  bought  for  sums 
varying  from  fifteen  pounds  to  forty  pounds.  The  chil- 
dren in  arms  were  sold  with  their  mothers,  an  act  of 
mercy;  but  those  that  could  feed  themselves  had  to  take 
their  chance.  More  often  than  not  they  were  separated 
from  their  mothers,  which  gave  rise  to  scenes  which  many 
a  sympathetic  pilgrim  would  willingly  forget  if  he 
could."^ 

Illiteracy. — The  illiteracy  of  the  Mohammedan  world 
to-day  is  as  surprising  as  it  is  appalling.  One  would 
think  that  a  religion  which  almost  worships  its  Sacred 
Book,  and  which  was  once  mistress  of  science  and  litera- 
ture, would  in  its  onward  sv/eep  have  enlightened  the 
nations.  But  facts  are  stubborn  things.  Careful  inves- 
tigations show  that  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  per  cent, 
of  the  Moslems  in  Africa  are  unable  to  read  or  write. 
In  Tripoli  ninety  per  cent,  are  illiterate ;  in  Egypt,  eighty- 
eight  per  cent. ;  in  Algiers,  over  ninety  per  cent.^  In 
Turkey  conditions  have  greatly  improved  and  illiteracy  is 
not  above  forty  per  cent.,  while  of  women  it  is  estimated 
as  under  sixty  per  cent.  Among  the  Kurds  and  Circas- 
sians illiteracv  is  more  prevalent.^  In  Arabia  there  has 
been  scant  intellectual  progress  since  "the  Time  of  Igno- 
rance," before  Mohammed,  when  the  tribes  used  to  gather 
at  Okatz  to  compete  in  poetry  and  eloquence.  The 
Bedouins  are  nearly  all  illiterate,  and  in  spite  of  the 
Wahabi  revival  and  the  attempt  of  Turkish  officials  to 
open  schools,  there  is  little  that  deserves  the  name  of  edu- 

niarlji  Khan,  "With  the  Pilgrims  to  Mecca:  The  Great  Pilgrimage  of 
A.   H.   1319"  (A.   D.   1902),  306308. 

*"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  284;  and  Statistical  Tables  also, 
33- 

«"Anatolicns"  in  article  on  "Islam  in  Turkey,"  in  "The  Mohammedan 
World  of  To-day,"  57. 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  \^J 

cation,  even  in  the  large  towns. ^  The  system  of  educa- 
tion at  Mecca  is  typical  of  that  in  all  Moslem  lands  not 
yet  influenced  by  Western  civilization  and  governments. 
The  youth  learn  to  read  the  Koran,  not  to  understand  its 
meaning,  but  to  drone  it  out  professionally  at  funerals 
and  feasts,  so  many  chapters  for  so  many  shekels.  Mod- 
ern science  or  history  are  not  even  mentioned,  much  less 
taught,  at  even  the  high-schools  of  Mecca.  Grammar, 
prosody,  caligraphy,  Arabian  history  and  the  first  ele- 
ments of  arithmetic,  but  chiefly  the  Koran  commentaries 
and  traditions,  traditions,  traditions,  form  the  curriculum 
of  the  Mohammedan  college.  Those  who  desire  a  post- 
graduate course  devote  themselves  to  mysticism 
(Tassawaf),  or  join  an  order  of  Derwishes,  all  of  whom 
have  their  representative  sheikhs  at  Mecca.  The  method 
of  teaching  in  the  schools  of  Mecca,  which  can  be  taken 
as  an  example  of  the  best  that  Arabia  affords,  is  as  fol- 
lows.^ The  child  of  intellectual  promise  is  first  thought 
his  alphabet  from  a  small  wooden  board  on  which  they 
are  written  by  the  teacher ;  slates  are  unknown.  Then  he 
learns  the  Abjad  or  numerical  value  of  each  letter — a  use- 
less proceeding  at  present,  as  the  Arabic  notation,  orig- 
inally from  India,  is  everywhere  in  use.  After  this  he 
learns  to  write  down  the  ninety-nine  names  of  Allah  and 
to  read  the  first  chapter  of  the  Koran ;  then  he  attacks  the 
last  two  chapters,  because  they  are  short.  The  teacher 
next  urges  him  through  the  book,  making  the  pupil  read 
at  the  top  of  his  voice.  The  greatest  strictness  is  ob- 
served as  to  pronunciation  and  pauses,  but  nothing  what- 
ever is  said  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  words.  Hav- 
ing thus  finished  the  Koran,  that  is,  read  it  through  once, 

^"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  109. 

-S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  43,  44;  and  Snouck  Hur- 
gronje,   "Mekka,"  Vol,   II,  passim. 


178  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

the  pupil  takes  up  the  elements  of  grammar,  learning 
rules  by  rote,  both  of  sarf  (inflection)  and  nahw  (syn- 
tax). Then  follow  the  liberal  sciences,  al-mantik  (logic), 
al-htsab  (arithmetic),  al-jahr  (algebra),  al-ma'ana  wa'l 
hey  an  (rhetoric  and  versification),  al-Hkh  (jurispru- 
dence), al-akaid  (scholastic  theology),  at-tafsir  (exeget- 
ics)  ilm-nl-usul  (science  of  the  sources  of  Koran  inter- 
pretation), and  lastly  the  very  capstone  of  education, 
al-ahadith  (Traditions).  What  that  capstone  includes 
we  have  seen  in  the  chapter  on  the  Faith  and  Prac- 
tice of  Islam.  And  in  all  this  again  Mecca  is  a  typical 
city. 

Persia  now  has  a  constitution,  but  it  has  no  national 
system  of  education,  and  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion are  illiterate.^  In  Baluchistan,  according  to  the 
British  census,  only  117  per  looo  of  the  Mohammedan 
m.en  and  only  23  per  1000  among  the  women  can  read.^ 
But  the  most  surprising,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
accurate,  statistics  of  illiteracy  are  those  of  India.  Ac- 
cording to  the  last  census,  the  total  of  illiterates  among 
the  62,4^8,0/7'  Mohammedans  of  India  is  the  enormous 
figure  of  jp,6y4,4pQ,  or  about  p6  per  cent.!^  Such  wide- 
spread illiteracy  in  all  lands,  and  especially  prevalent 
among  Moslem  women,  results  in  every  sort  of  supersti- 
tion in  the  home-life  and  among  the  lower  and  middle 
classes.  Even  among  the  leaders  of  these  blind,  intellec- 
tually, modern  science  is  despised  or  feared,  and  every- 
thing turns,  on  the  Ptolemaic  system,  round  the  little  world 
of  the  Koran.  Jinn  are  exorcised ;  witches  and  the  evil- 
eye  avoided  by  amulets  and  talismans ;  alchemy  and  as- 

'"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"   ii8.     Table,  295. 
'Ibid..   137. 

'The  percentage  of  literates  is  given  in  the  census  as  3.27  per  cent.     "The 
Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  162.    Table,  294. 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  1 79 

trology  are  studied  and  patronized;  and  pagan  practices 
often  flourish  on  the  soil  of  Moslem  bigotry.^  It  is  a 
dark  world. 

The  Intellectual  Azvakening. — It  has  always  proved  im- 
possible to  put  the  new  wine  of  free  thought  and  educa- 
tion into  the  old  wine-skins  of  Moslem  orthodoxy.  The 
history  of  Moslem  dogma  proves  it.  And  therefore  the 
recent  intellectual  awakening  of  those  relatively  few  Mos- 
lems who  received  a  liberal  education  in  Syria,  Egypt, 
India  or  Algiers,  whether  in  government  or  mission 
schools,  or  of  those  who  became  enamored  of  Western 
civilization,  was  inevitably  an  intellectual  revolt  against 
the  old  Islam.  This  clash  of  modern  life  and  thought 
with  the  medievalism  of  Al  Ghazzali  gave  birth  to  the  New 
Islam.  Though  called  by  different  names  in  India,  the 
Levant  and  Egypt,  the  cause  and  effect  of  the  movement 
are  the  same.  The  leadership  and  initiative  of  the  New 
Islam  in  India  belong  to  Sir  Saiyad  Ahmed  Khan  of 
Aligarh.  After  a  period  of  government  service  and  visit 
to  England  in  1870,  he  began  by  editing  a  journal  called 
Tahzib  id  Akhlak,  or  The  Reform  of  Morals.  In  1878 
he  started  an  Anglo-Mohammedan  College  at  Aligarh, 
which  has  since,  through  gifts  of  educated  Moslems  and 
government  assistance,  become  the  Mohammedan  Uni- 
versity for  all  India.  In  1886  he  began  an  Annual  Edu- 
cational Conference  for  the  Mohammedans  of  India.  Sir 
Saiyad  Ahmed  also  wrote  a  Commentary  on  the  Bible, 
which  has  doubtless  helped  to  bring  some  educated  Mos- 
lems to  a  more  intelligent  view  of  the  real  character 
and  integrity  of  the  Christian  Scriptures.  But  the  at- 
tempt to  rationalize  Islam  and  give  it  new  life  by  a  broad 

^See  Indian  Census  Reports  of  Bengal;  "The  Mohammedan  World  of 
To-day,"  72,  89,  219,  etc. ;  Hughes,  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  Exorcism  and 
Jinn;  and  "Our  Moslem  Sisters,"  passim. 


l80  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

interpretation  of  its  theology,  has  failed.  Competent  ob- 
servers in  India  state  that  **the  movement  has  practically 
lapsed  into  a  sort  of  social  and  political  reform,"  and  that 
"just  at  present  there  is  a  marked  indication,  even  among 
educated  Moslems,  mainly  to  drift  back  to  the  old  school 
of  thought."^  The  hands  of  the  clock  are  put  back  to 
midnight,  altho  it  strikes  the  hour  of  dawn. 

The  institution  at  Aligarh,  however,  now  contains  340 
students  in  the  college  department  and  364  in  the  pre- 
paratory school ;  of  these  eighty-eight  are  Hindu  stu- 
dents and  the  rest  Mohammedans.  But  the  tone  of  the 
college  is  agnostic  rather  than  Moslem  and  secular  rather 
than  religious.  This  was  the  testimony  given  me  by  the 
two  resident  professors  of  Moslem  theology  when  I  vis- 
ited the  college  in  1902,  and  was  also  my  own  impression 
after  meeting  the  students. 

In  Egypt  also  there  is  an  intellectual  awakening  on  the 
part  of  many  educated  Moslems.  The  late  liberal-mind- 
ed Mufti  at  Cairo  attempted  to  reform  Islam  and  depre- 
cated the  ignorance  and  bigotry  of  his  co-religionists.  He 
tried  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos  in  the  Azhar  University, 
both  in  its  material  affairs  and  its  method  of  instruction. 
A  great  impetus  was  given  to  education  through  his  ef- 
forts. Book  and  tract  societies  were  started.  He  even 
attempted  to  reform  the  Moslem  courts  of  law,  which  are 
notoriously  corrupt.  But  whether  the  measures  he 
initiated  will  be  fruitful  of  permanent  result  is  very 
doubtful. - 

Yet  the  printing-press  is  carrying  these  messages  of 
reform  and  preaching  a  New  Islam  wherever  Moslem 
journals  of  this  type  find  readers.     And  wherever  Mos- 

»"The  New  Islam,"  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  187-204, 
''Andrew  Watson,  in  Ibid.,  32,  33. 


5  c? 


PRESENT    CONDITION    OF    MOSLEM    WORLD  l8l 

lems  come  into  touch  with  the  non-]\IosIem  world  of  the 
West  in  its  pohtics  and  commerce,  or  through  Christian 
missions,  there  follows  the  inevitable  conflict  between  the 
old  and  the  new  in  the  minds  of  those  who  dare  to  think 
for  themselves.  Dr.  William  A.  Shedd  points  out  that 
Islam  to-day  must  meet  a  new  crisis  in  its  history.  "It 
is  coming  into  close  contact  with  modern  thought  and 
civilization.  It  must  meet  these  changed  conditions  if  it 
is  to  live,  and  the  question  arises  whether  it  can  do  this 
or  not.  History  shows  that  Islam  is  capable  of  great 
things  and  of  flourishing  under  very  varied  conditions. 
It  also  shows  that  it  has  received  into  its  system  from  the 
very  beginning  elements  from  outside,  and  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  this  process  may  go  on.  .  .  .  However, 
the  elements  which  have  entered  Islam  from  outside  in 
the  past  have  not  been  assimilated.  This  inability  of 
Islam  to  assimilate  the  elements  received  into  it  has  been 
made  the  reason  for  denying  to  it  the  claim  to  be  a  univer- 
sal religion  and  the  argument  seems  to  be  thoroughly 
valid. "^ 

That  the  Mohammedans  themselves  are  conscious  of 
this  crisis  in  their  religious  outlook  is  evident  from  the 
press  and  the  platform  wherever  these  two  blessings  of  a 
Christian  civilization  obtain  in  the  Mohammedan  world. 
The  following  words,  spoken  by  Mustapha  Pasha  Kami! 
of  Egypt  (whom  Professor  Vambery  calls  "the  actual 
leader  of  the  anti-English  movement  on  the  Nile")  before 
the  Pan-Islamic  Society  at  the  Criterion  Restaurant,  Lon- 
don, in  July,  1906,  are  an  illustration :  "Tell  the  people 
who  live  the  life  of  animals  and  are  led  like  dumb  driven 
cattle.  Awake !  and  realize  the  true  significance  of  life. 

^Kuenen-Hibhert  Lectures  fiRR^),  "Natural  Religions  and  L'^niversal  Re- 
ligions," Lecture  I.  Quoted  in  Shedd,  "Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches," 
87. 


l82  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

Fill  the  earth  and  adorn  it  with  results  of  your  labors. 
Gentlemen,  you  alone  can  make  them  understand  the  full 
meaning  of  life ;  nay,  you  alone  can  give  them  life.  Has- 
ten, therefore,  with  your  medicine.  O  physicians,  the 
patient  is  in  a  critical  state,  and  delay  spells  death.  The 
malady  of  the  Moslem  nations  is  twofold.  One  I  have 
already  alluded  to,  the  other  is  the  absurd  belief  of  mil- 
lions of  people  that  devotion  to  Islam  is  incompatible  with 
progress  and  enlightenment.  They  say  that  our  death  is 
more  profitable  to  mankind  than  our  life.  The  contem- 
plation of  this  fills  the  heart  of  every  educated  Moslem 
and  every  cultured  Oriental  with  sorrow.  It  is  no  use 
referring  them  to  the  glorious  pages  of  our  past  history. 
It  is  no  use  pointing  out  to  them  that  we  owe  allegiance 
to  a  liberal  faith,  which  enjoins  upon  us  the  search  of 
knowledge  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Our  decline  and 
fall  and  present  degradation  is  living  proof  contradicting 
your  assertion.  You  must  prove  it  by  deeds  and  not  by 
mere  words.  The  march  of  events  and  vicissitudes  in 
the  world  has  proved  that  the  strong  current  of  science 
and  knowledge,  alone  can  give  us  life  and  sovereign 
power.  Those  who  march  with  the  current  arrive  at 
the  harbor  of  salvation.  Those  who  go  against  it  are 
doomed." 

Will  it  be  possible  "to  march  with  the  current"  and 
continue  to  hold  the  teaching  of  the  Koran  and  the  Tra- 
ditions? The  present  condition  of  the  Mohammedan 
world  answers  that  question  emphatically  in  the  nega- 
tive. And  will  "marching  with  the  current  of  science 
and  knowledge"  after  all  ever  give  the  weary,  sinful,  sor- 
rowing millions  of  Islam  spiritual  peace  or  lift  Moham- 
medan womanhood  and  manhood  out  of  their  degrada- 
tion into  the  glorious  inheritance  of  the  Sons  of  God  ? 


MISSIONS  TO  MOSLEMS 


"Sive  ergo  Mahometicus  error  haeretico  nomine  deturpetur; 
sive  gentili  aut  pagano  infametur;  agendum  contra  eum  est, 
scribendum  est."     .     .     . 

"Aggredior  vos,  non  ut  nostri  ssepe  faciunt  armis,  sed  verbis, 
non  vi  sed  ratione,  non  odio  sed  amore." — Petrus  Venerabilis, 
1 157  A.  D. 

"The  time  has  come  for  the  Church  of  Christ  seriously  to 
consider  her  duty  to  this  large  fraction  of  our  race.  It  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  a  church  guided  and  inspired  by  an  Almighty 
Leader  will  neglect  a  duty  simply  because  it  is  difficult  and  calls 
for  faith  and  fortitude.  It  is  especially  foreign  to  the  spirit  of 
American  Christianity  to  slight  a  task  because  it  is  hard,  or 
ignore  a  question  of  moral  reform  or  religious  responsibility 
because  it  looks  formidable." — Rev.  James  S.  Dennis,  D.  D. 


IX 

MISSIONS  TO  MOSLEMS 

A  Neglected  Problem.— Islsim  dates  from  the  year  622 
A.  D.  The  first  missionary  to  the  Mohammedans  in  the 
annals  of  the  Christian  Church  was  Raymund  Lull,  who 
was  dragged  outside  the  town  of  Bugia  and  stoned  to 
death  on  June  30,  131 5.  Before  the  time  of  Lull  there 
was  little  organized  missionary  effort  in  the  Church  East 
or  West  to  preach  Christ  to  the  Moslem  nations.  And  as 
far  as  we  know,  Lull  had  no  successors,  with  his  spirit, 
until  Henry  Martyn's  day.  Had  the  spirit  of  Raymund 
Lull  filled  the  Church  throughout  those  long  centuries  of 
neglect,  we  would  not  now  speak  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred million  unevangelized  Moslems. 

At  first  the  terror  of  the  Saracen  and  the  Turk  smoth- 
ered in  every  heart  even  the  desire  to  carry  them  the 
Gospel.  And  when  Christendom  in  Europe  recovered 
from  the  shock  of  the  Saracen  invasion  and  that  of  the 
Turks,  its  first  impulse  was  to  take  the  sword  and  by  the 
sword  its  hosts  of  Crusaders  perished.  The  Crusades 
were  the  reply  of  Christendom  to  the  challenge  of  Islam, 
but  the  reply  was  not  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  It  was 
Raymund  Lull  who  wrote:  "I  see  many  knights  going 
to  the  Holy  Land  beyond  the  seas,  and  thinking  that  they 
can  acquire  it  by  force  of  arms ;  but  in  the  end  all  are 
destroyed  before  they  attain  that  which  they  think  to 

18; 


i86  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

have.  Whence  it  seems  to  me  that  the  conquest  of  the 
Holy  Land  ought  not  to  be  attempted  except  in  the  way 
in  which  Thou  and  Thine  apostles  acquired  it,  namely,  by 
love  and  prayers  and  the  pouring  out  of  tears  and  blood."^ 
But  his  was  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness. 

Even  in  the  sixteenth  century,  devoted  as  were  the 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  who  then  went  forth  to  the 
pagan  world,  there  was  little  to  attract  and  less  to  wel- 
come in  lands  under  Moslem  rule  the  men  who  insti- 
tuted the  inquisition  at  Goa  and  intrigued  for  political 
power  in  China  and  Japan. 

When  the  modern  missionary  revival  began  in  Prot- 
estant Christendom  with  Carey,  the  idea  was  to  carry 
the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  and  the  Mohammedans  were 
neglected.  It  is  true  that  there  has  been  the  work  of 
illustrious  pioneers,  and  wherever  Protestant  missions 
came  in  contact  with  Islam,  whether  laboring  for  the 
reformation  of  the  Oriental  churches  or  in  heathen  lands,. 
a  great  work  of  preparation  has  been  accomplished.  But 
the  fact  remains  that  no  part  of  the  non-Christian  world 
has  been  so  long  and  so  widely  neglected  as  Islam.  The 
task  has  either  appeared  so  formidable,  the  obstacles  so 
great  or  faith  has  been  so  weak  that  one  might  suppose 
the  Church  thought  her  great  commission  to  evangelize 
the  world  did  not  apply  to  Mohammedans.  There  are 
to-day  eighty-eight  societies  organized  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Jews ;  but  no  great  missionary  society  has  yet  been 
organized  to  convert  Mohammedans  and  scarcely  a  dozen 
missions  are  professedly  working  directly  among  and  for 
Moslems.^  Many  of  those  who  write  on  world-wide  mis- 
sions or  on  countries  where  Islam  is  widely  prevalent  ig- 

»Quoted  by  S.   M.   Zwemer  in  "Raymund  Lull,"  52. 

•Bliss,  "Encyclopedia  of  Missions,"  496,  846,  847.    (Edition  1904.) 


MISSIONS   TO    MOSLEMS  187 

nore  the  Mohammedan  population.  Dr.  Jones  calls  his 
admirable  book  on  India,  for  example,  "India's  Problem, 
Krishna  or  Christ,"  and  there  are  not  two  pages  in  the 
whole  book  on  Mohammedanism,  while  one-fifth  of  In- 
dia's population  is  Moslem.^  Dr.  Gustav  Warneck,  the 
missionary  expert  of  Germany,  does  not  include  missions 
to  Moslems  in  his  plan  for  evangelization ;  and  in  a  recent 
sumptuous  volume  of  six  hundred  pages,  published  in 
Germany,  on  the  history  of  Protestant  missions,  work  for 
Moslems  is  dismissed  in  a  single  paragraph  and  labeled 
hopeless.- 

Early  Attitude  of  the  Church. — The  reason  for  this 
neglect  was  on  the  one  hand  the  attitude  of  the  Church 
toward  Islam  and  on  the  other  that  of  Islam  toward  the 
Church.  ''Christendom,"  says  Keller,  ''accustomed  itself 
ever  since  the  time  of  the  Crusades  to  look  upon  Islam 
as  its  most  bitter  foe  and  not  as  a  prodigal  son  to  be  won 
back  to  the  Father's  house. "^  Centuries  before  the  Cru- 
sades, Islam  was  considered  a  scourge  of  God  for  the 
sins  and  divisions  of  the  Church,  each  party  considering 
the  Saracens  as  God's  special  avenger  on  their  rivals.* 
There  was  also  the  greatest  ignorance  of  the  real  char- 
acter of  Islam,  and  the  Councils  of  the  Church  were  so 
busy  with  minor  matters  of  the  faith  that  they  ignored 
this  gigantic  heresy  which  was  sweeping  over  the  lands 
once  Christian. 

And  there  was  mutual  hatred.  "Marvel  not,"  wrote 
Marco  Polo,  "that  the  Saracens  hate  the  Christians;  for 

^Robert  E.  Speer,  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  270. 

2Reinbold  Gareis,  "Geschichte  der  Evangelische  Heidenmission."  (Con- 
stance, 1901.)  Eleven  maps  and  over  300  illustrations;  yet  see  page  320  on 
"Islam." 

'A.  Keller,  "Geisteskampf  des  Christentums  gegen  Islam  bis  zur  zeit  der 
Kreuzzuge."     (Leipsic,   1896.) 

*Ibid..  12. 


i88  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

the  accursed  law  which  Mohammed  gave  them  commands 
them  to  do  all  the  mischief  in  their  power  to  all  other 
descriptions  of  people  and  especially  to  Christians;  to 
strip  such  of  their  goods  and  do  them  all  manner  of  evil. 
In  such  fashion  the  Saracens  act  throughout  the  world. "^ 
Dante  voices  the  common  opinion  of  the  West  in  his  day 
when  he  puts  Mohammed  in  the  deepest  hell  of  his  In- 
ferno and  describes  his  fate  in  such  dreadful  language  as 
offends  polite  ears.-  Alanus  de  Insulis  (i  114-1200) 
wrote  a  book  on  Islam,  in  which  he  classes  Moslems  with 
the  Jews  and  Waldenses!  Western  Europe,  according 
to  Keller,  was  for  a  long  time  ignorant  even  of  the  cen- 
tury in  which  Mohammed  was  born,  and  Hildebert,  the 
Archbishop  of  Tours,  wrote  a  poem  on  Mohammed  in 
which  he  is  represented  as  an  apostate  from  the  Orthodox 
Church,  and  which  contains  these  lines : 

"Plus  nocet  ut  nostis  ad  cuncta  domesticus  hostis 
Et  res  ipsa  docet  qualiter  ille  nocet*'' 

The  poem  closes  with  the  words: 

"Musa  manum  teneat  et  Mahumet  pereat."^ 

Such  efforts  surely  would  not  arouse  a  missionary  spirit 
on  behalf  of  Moslems ! 

John  Damascenus  and  Petrus  Venerabilis. — These  two 
names  are  worthy  of  remembrance  in  the  history  of  mis- 
sions to  Moslems,  not  because  they  were  missionaries, 
but  because  they  first  studied  Islam  with  sympathy  and 
employed  spiritual  weapons  in  defence  of  the  faith  against 
Moslems.     They  were  the  first  to  take  up  the  pen  against 

^"Marco  Polo's  Travels."     Colonel  Yule's  edition,  Vol.  I,  69. 

''Gary's  edition  of  Dante's  "Divina  Comedia,"  Hell,  canto  XXVIII,  20-39. 

*A.  Keller,  "Geisteskampf  des  Christentums  gegen  den  Islam,"  39,  40. 


MISSIONS   TO   MOSLEMS  189 

the  sword,  and  with  Al  Kindi^  led  the  long  list  of  Chris- 
tian apologists  in  the  Mohammedan  controversy  through- 
out the  centuries  that  followed.  John  of  Damascus  was 
by  far  the  ablest  theologian  of  the  eighth  century  and 
lived  in  Palestine  under  the  protection  of  the  Saracens  to 
escape  the  vengeance  of  the  Byzantine  Emperor,  whom 
he  opposed  in  a  controversy  about  the  worship  of  images. 
He  died  at  Jerusalem  in  760  A.  D.  For  a  considerable 
time  he  was  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Saracens  and 
known  by  the  Arabic  cognomen,  Mansur.-  Among  his 
less  known  works  is  one  entitled  De  Haeresihus,  which, 
among  other  tractates,  contains  a  dispute  between  a 
Moslem  and  a  Christian.  ''This  treatise,"  says  Keller, 
who  gives  interesting  extracts  from  it,  "was  the  armory 
for  all  future  controversial  writings  against  Islam  in  the 
Eastern  Church."  John  of  Damascus  shows  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Koran  text  and  with  the  early  Moslem  tra- 
ditions in  regard  to  its  interpretation.  He  admits  the 
truths  of  Mohammed's  teaching,  points  out  its  errors  and 
also  the  blots  on  Mohammed's  character.  The  dialogue 
is  evidently  intended  to  instruct  Christians  how  to  give 
"an  answer  for  the  hope  that  is  in  them." 

Petrus  Venerabilis,  whose  pregnant  words  at  the  head 
of  this  chapter  show  his  missionary  spirit,  belonged  to 
the  Benedictine  order  of  monks,  and  was  Abbot  of  Clugny 
in  the  twelfth  century,  his  death  occurring  in  11 57  A.  D. 
He  was  distinguished  for  his  learning,  liberality  and  kind- 
ly spirit,  and  was  the  first  to  translate  the  Koran  into  a 
language  of  Europe,  the  Latin,  and  to  study  Islam  with 
sympathy  and  scholarship.  He  made  a  plea  for  the 
translation  of  portions  of  Scripture  into  the  language  of 

^Sir  William   Muir,   "Apology  of  Al   Kindy";  translated  from  the  Arabic 
second  edition,   1887.    See  Table  opposite  page  214. 
2Kurtz,  "Church  History,"  Vol.  I,  2C5. 


190  ISLAM:      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

the  Saracens  and  in  this  respect  antedated  Henry  Martyn 
by  seven  centuries.  This  early  champion  of  the  Church 
wrote  two  remarkable  books  against  Mohammedanism 
which  have  recently  appeared  in  a  German  translation.^ 
In  them  he  treats  at  length  and  with  keen  insight  two 
main  topics,  the  divine  character  of  the  Koran  and  the 
question  whether  Mohammed  was  a  prophet.  He  shows 
that  the  Koran  testifies  against  itself  and  that  we  admit 
the  weakness  of  our  Christianity  by  not  defending  it 
against  Mohammedan  attacks  and  zvinning  Moslems  by 
our  proof  of  its  truth.  He  carefully  distinguishes  the 
true  and  the  false  in  the  teaching  of  Islam  and  even 
points  out  its  pagan.  Christian,  and  Jewish  elements.^ 
He  expresses  regret  that  he  has  no  time  to  leave  his  books 
and  studies  and  enter  upon  the  conflict  in  person,  but  says 
he  will  not  cease  to  use  his  pen.  Something  must  be 
done  to  stem  the  tide  of  Islam.  The  Crusades,  in  his 
opinion,  were  a  failure ;  so  he  says,  *T  come  to  meet  the 
Moslems,  not  with  arms  but  with  words,  not  by  force 
but  by  reason,  not  in  hatred  but  in  love." 

Who  shall  say  that  these  earliest  literary  efforts  were  a 
failure?  On  the  contrary,  we  cannot  but  believe,  after 
reading  the  Abbot's  books,  that  there  were  Moslems  who 
accepted  Christianity,  though  their  numbers  may  have 
been  few.  As  circumstantial  evidence  we  know  that  in 
the  same  century  the  Eastern  Emperor  erased  from  his 
creed  the  old  anathema  against  "the  god  of  Mohammed" 
as  likely  to  offend  those  Mohammedans  who  had  em- 
braced or  were  disposed  to  embraced  Christianity.^    This 

'Joh-  Thoma,  "Zwei  Bucher  gegen  den  Muhammedanismus  von  Petrus 
Venerabilis."     (Leipsic,   1896.)     Akademische   Buch-handlung. 

'A.   Keller,  "Geisteskampf,"  etc.,  41,  43,  etc. 

'Sir  William  Muir,  "The  Mohammedan  Controversy,"  4;  and  Kurtz, 
"Church  History,"  Vol.  I,  267. 


MISSIONS   TO    MOSLEMS  IQI 

concession  was  evidently  made  because  there  was  a  call 
for  it. 

Raymund  Lull. — John  of  Damascus,  Petrus  Vener- 
abilis  and  others  tried  to  reach  Moslems  by  their  pen ; 
Raymund  Lull  was  the  first  to  go  to  them  in  person. 
They  offered  arguments;  he  offered  his  life.  Eugene 
Stock,  formerly  editorial  secretary  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  declares  ''there  is  no  more  heroic  figure 
in  the  history  of  Christendom  than  that  of  Raymond  Lull, 
the  first  and  perhaps  the  greatest  missionary  to  Moham- 
medans."^ ''Of  all  the  men  of  his  century,"  another 
student  of  missions  says,  "of  whom  we  know,  Raymund 
Lull  w^as  most  possessed  by  the  love  and  life  of  Christ, 
and  most  eager,  accordingly,  to  share  his  possession  with 
the  world.  It  sets  forth  the  greatness  of  Lull's  character 
the  more  strikingly  to  see  how  sharply  he  rose  above  the 
world  and  church  of  his  day,  anticipating  by  many  cen- 
turies moral  standards,  intellectual  conceptions,  and  mis- 
sionary ambitions  to  which  we  have  grown  only  since  the 
Reformation."^  Raymund  Lull  was  born  at  Palma,  in 
the  Island  of  Majorca,  in  1235,  of  a  distinguished  Cata- 
lonian  family,  and  when  of  age  spent  several  years  at 
the  court  of  the  King  of  Aragon.  He  was  a  court  poet, 
a  skilled  musician  and  a  gay  knight  before  he  became  a 
scholastic  philosopher  and  an  ardent  missionary  to  the 
Mohammedans.  The  manner  of  his  conversion  at  the 
age  of  thirty-two  reminds  one  of  the  experiences  of  Saul 
on  his  way  to  Damascus,  and  of  St.  Augustine  under  the 
fig-tree  at  Milan.  After  his  vision  of  the  Christ  he  sold 
all  his  property,  gave  the  money  to  the  poor,  and  reserved 
only  a  scanty  allowance  for  his  wife  and  children.     He 

^"History  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,"  Vol.  I. 

'Robert  E.  Speer,  in  "Introduction"  to  Zwemer's  "Raymund  Lull,"  xii. 


192  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

entered  upon  a  thorough  course  of  study,  mastered  the 
Arabic  language,  using  a  Saracen  slave  as  teacher,  and 
began  his  life  work  at  the  age  of  forty.  The  labor  to 
which  he  felt  called,  and  for  which  he  gave  his  life  with 
wonderful  perseverance  and  devotion,  was  threefold: 
He  devised  a  philosophical  system  to  persuade  non- 
Christians,  especially  Moslems,  of  the  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity; he  established  missionary  colleges  for  the 
study  of  Oriental  languages;  and  he  himself  went  and 
preached  to  the  Moslems,  sealing  his  witness  with  his 
blood. 

In  his  fifty-sixth  year,  after  vain  efforts  to  arouse 
others  to  a  missionary  enterprise  on  behalf  of  the  Moham- 
medans, he  determined  to  set  out  alone  and  single-handed 
preach  Christ  in  North  Africa.  On  arriving  at  Tunis  he 
invited  the  Moslem  literati  to  a  conference.  He  an- 
nounced that  he  had  studied  the  arguments  on  both  sides 
of  the  question,  and  was  willing  to  submit  the  evidences 
for  Christianity  and  for  Islam  to  a  fair  comparison.  The 
challenge  was  accepted,  but  the  Moslems  being  worsted 
in  argument,  and  fanaticism  being  aroused,  Lull  was  cast 
into  a  dungeon  by  order  of  the  Sultan,  and  narrowly 
escaped  death.  After  bitter  persecutions  he  returned  to 
Europe,  where  he  made  other  missionary  journeys.  In 
1307  he  was  again  on  the  shores  of  Africa,  and  at  Bugia, 
in  the  market-place,  stood  up  boldly  and  preached  Christ 
to  the  Moslem  populace.  Once  again  his  pleadings  were 
met  with  violence,  and  he  was  flung  into  a  dungeon,  where 
he  remained  for  six  months,  preaching  to  those  few  who 
came,  and  befriended  only  by  some  merchants  of  Genoa 
and  Spain,  who  took  pity  on  the  aged  missionary  of  the 
Cross. 

Although  banished  for  a  second  time  and  with  threats 


MISSIONS   TO    MOSLEMS  I93 

against  his  life  if  he  returned,  Lull  could  not  resist  the 
call  of  the  Love  that  ruled  his  life.  '*He  that  loves  not 
lives  not,"  said  he,  "and  he  that  lives  by  The  Life  cannot 
die."  So,  in  13 14,  the  veteran  of  eighty  years  returned 
to  Africa  and  to  his  little  bard  of  Moslem  converts.  For 
over  ten  months  he  dwelt  in  hiding,  talking  and  pray- 
ing with  those  who  had  accepted  Christ,  and  trying  to 
win  others.  Weary  of  seclusion,  he  at  length  came  forth 
into  the  open  market  and  presented  himself  to  the  people 
as  the  man  whom  they  had  expelled.  It  was  Elijah  show- 
ing himself  to  a  mob  of  Ahabs.  Lull  stood  before  them 
and  threatened  them  with  God's  wrath  if  they  still  per- 
sisted in  their  errors.  He  pleaded  with  love,  but  spoke 
the  whole  truth.  Filled  with  fanatic  fury  at  his  boldness 
and  unable  to  reply  to  his  arguments,  the  populace  seized 
him  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  town.  There,  by  the 
command,  or  at  least  the  connivance,  of  the  Moslem  ruler, 
he  was  stoned  to  death  on  the  30th  of  June,  1315.^  And 
so  he  became  the  first  martyr  missionary  to  Islam.  To  be 
stoned  to  death  while  preaching  the  love  of  Christ  to  Mos- 
lems was  the  fitting  end  for  such  a  life. 

Yet  his  was  a  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness  and  his 
loneliness  was  the  loneliness  of  leadership  when  there  are 
none  awake  to  follow.  *'One  step  further,"  says  Dr. 
George  Smith,  "but  some  slight  response  from  his  church 
or  his  age,  and  Raymund  Lull  would  have  anticipated 
William  Carey  by  exactly  seven  centuries."  But  there 
was  no  response.  The  story  of  his  life  and  abundant 
labors  in  the  dark  ages  is  a  challenge  of  faith  for  us, 
who  live  in  the  light  of  the  twentieth  century,  to  win  the 
whole  Mohammedan  world  for  Christ.  We  have  larger 
opportunity,  and  far  greater  resources,  and  therefore  can 

^S.  M.   Zwemer,  "Raymund  Lull,"   143. 


194  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

do  it  if  we  will.     But  we,  too,  must  go  in  the  spirit  of 
Raymund  Lull  and  in  his  Master's  name. 

Francis  Xaz'ier. — Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth 
century  another  champion  of  the  faith  attacked  the  citadel 
of  Islam.  The  Society  of  the  Jesuits,  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  King  of  Portugal,  sent  Francis  Xavier  from 
Goa  with  letters  of  introduction  to  the  Great  Mogul. 
Xavier  visited  Lahore,  in  North  India,  during  the  reign 
of  the  Emperor  Akbar,  and  after  twelve  years  of  resi- 
dence and  study  finished  his  book  on  Christianity  called 
"A  Mirror  for  Showing  the  Truth."  He  presented  this 
apology  for  the  faith  to  the  Emperor  Jahangir,  Akbar's 
successor,  and  held  many  discussions  at  the  court  with 
the  Moslem  teachers.  From  his  book  (which  has  been 
preserved  in  the  library  of  Queen's  College,  Cambridge, 
and  translated  into  English,^  we  can  see  that  Xavier  was 
a  man  of  high  ability,  that  he  knew  the  Mohammedan  re- 
ligion thoroughly,  but  that  as  a  Roman  Catholic  con- 
troversialist he  is  often  compelled  to  leave  the  strongholds 
of  the  Christian  faith  and  defends  the  outworks  of  his 
Church.  His  skill  and  subtlety  are  engaged  in  arguments 
to  convince  Moslems  of  the  reasonableness  of  honoring 
relics  and  of  miracles,  of  prayers  for  the  dead  and  the 
worship  of  images.  The  book,  with  all  its  weaknesses, 
was  strong  enough,  however,  to  provoke  a  Moslem  reply 
twelve    years   after  its   appearance."     And   there   is  no 

^Rev.  S.  Lee,  "Persian  Controversies."  (Cambridge,  1824.) 
*Sir  William  Muir,  "The  Mohammedan  Controversy,"  7.  Wherry,  in  "Is- 
lam and  Christianity,"  gives  the  following  testimony  to  its  character:  "It 
was  addressed  to  Moslems  and  was  dedicated  to  the  Emperor  Jahangir,  the 
title  bearing  these  words,  'Address  to  the  Shadow  of  God,  the  Asylum  of 
Empire,  the  great  King  of  Kings,  Jahangir.  May  God  perpetuate  his  king- 
dom and   power.' 

"An  examination  of  the  contents  of  this  book,  comprising  800  pages,  dis- 
closes the  fact  that  the  main  points  of  contention  between  Christian  and 
Moslem,  in  the  capital  city  of  the  Punjab  three  centuries  ago,  were  prac- 


MISSIONS   TO    MOSLEMS  I95 

doubt  that  such  discussions  and  such  a  book  stirred 
thought  in  the  ranks  of  Islam,  altho  we  do  not  read  of 
conversions  or  baptisms. 

Henry  Martyn  and  Missions  in  India. — Again  we  have 
to  make  a  leap  of  centuries  in  the  account  of  pioneer 
effort  for  the  evangelization  of  the  Mohammedan  world. 
And  while  the  Church  was  neglecting  the  problem,  Islam 
was  spreading  in  all  directions  and  taking  root  in  new 
lands  and  among  new  peoples.  Five  centuries  of  inactiv- 
ity and  then  the  mantle  of  Raymund  Lull  fell  upon  Henry 
Martyn,  saint  and  scholar,  and  first  modern  missionary 
to  the  Mohammedans.  "His  life,"  says  Dr.  George 
Smith,  ''is  the  perpetual  heritage  of  all  English-speaking 
Christendom  and  of  the  native  churches  of  India,  Arabia, 
Persia  and  Anatolia  in  all  time  to  come.^  Born  in  1781 
and  graduated  with  the  highest  academical  honor  of 
senior  wrangler  in  1801,  he  was  ordained  in  1803,  and 
arrived  in  India  in  1806  as  a  chaplain  of  the  East  India 
Company,  with  his  heart  on  fire  to  labor  for  the  benighted 
peoples  of  the  Orient.  Before  his  arrival  he  had  already 
studied  Sanscrit,  Persian  and  Arabic,  and  afterwards  he 
labored  unceasingly  by  tongue  and  pen,  by  preaching  and 
by  prayer,  ''to  burn  out  for  God."     In  1808  he  completed 

tically  the  same  as  those  still  discussed  in  the  bazaars  and  chapels  of  La- 
hore to-day.  These  points  are:  The  mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  the 
Divinity  of  the  Messiah,  the  Integrity  of  the  Christian  Scriptures,  and  the 
^Moslem  claim  that  the  former  Scriptures  have  been  abrogated  by  the 
Koran.  Excepting  the  portion  of  this  book  devoted  to  the  defence  of 
image  worship  and  the  reverence  bestowed  upon  relics  and  saints,  the  dis- 
cussions were  conducted  with  considerable  ability.  On  the  practical  as- 
pects of  the  teaching  of  the  Koran,  the  missionary  attacked  its  immoral 
teaching  in  respect  to  marriage,  polygamy  and  divorce,  etc.,  and  repre- 
sented the  facility  with  which  Islam  ministers  to  the  desires  and  passions 
of  men,  as  like  unto  the  production  of  a  cook,  who  studies  the  palate  of 
his  master,  while  the  less  attractive  aspects  of  Christianity  are  like  unto  the 
bitter  of  a  wholesome  medicine." 

^George   Smith,    "Henry   Martyn:    Saint   and    Scholar,   First   Modern    Mis- 
sionary to  the  Mohammedans,  1787-1812."    (New  York,  1900.) 


196  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

a  version  of  tlie  New  Testament  in  Hindustani,  and  later 
into  other  languages  of  India.  With  a  special  desire  to 
reach  the  Mohammedans  he  perfected  himself  in  Persian 
and  began  a  version  of  the  New  Testament  in  that  lan- 
guage. In  181 1  he  sailed  from  Calcutta  to  Bombay  and 
for  the  Persian  Gulf,  partly  because  of  his  broken  health, 
but  more  so,  as  is  evident  from  his  journals,  that  he 
might  give  the  Mohammedans  of  Arabia  and  Persia  the 
Word  of  God.  On  his  voyage  from  Calcutta  to  Bombay 
he  composed  tracts  in  Arabic,  spoke  with  the  Arab  sailors 
and  studied  the  Koran.  He  stopped  at  Muscat  on  April 
20th ;  and  we  can  tell  what  his  thoughts  then  were  in  re- 
gard to  Arabia,  for  a  year  earlier  he  wrote  in  his  diary : 
'Tf  my  life  is  spared  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Arabic 
should  not  be  done  in  Arabia  and  the  Persian  in  Persia. 
.  .  .  Arabia  shall  hide  me  till  I  come  forth  with  an 
approved  New  Testament  in  Arabic.  .  .  .  Will  the 
Government  let  me  go  away  for  three  years  before  the 
time  of  my  furlough  arrives?  If  not,  I  must  quit  the 
service  and  I  cannot  devote  my  life  to  a  more  important 
work  than  that  of  preparing  the  Arabic  Bible."^  He 
reached  Shiraz  in  June,  181 1,  and  there  revised  his  Per- 
sian translation,  also  holding  frequent  discussions  with 
the  Moslem  mullahs.  One  year  after  entering  Persia  he 
left  Shiraz  and  proceeded  to  the  Shah's  camp  near  Ispa- 
han, to  lay  before  him  the  translation  he  had  made.  Let 
him  tell  us  the  story  in  his  own  words : 

"June  1 2th  I  attended  the  Vizier's  levee,  when  there 
was  a  most  intemperate  and  clamorous  controversy  kept 
up  for  an  hour  or  two,  eight  or  ten  on  one  side  and  I  on 
the  other.  The  Vizier,  who  set  us  going  first,  joined  in 
it  latterly,  and  said,  'You  had  better  say  God  is  God,  and 

^S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  318,  319. 


MISSIONS   TO   MOSLEMS  197 

Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God.'  I  said,  'God  is  God/ 
but  added,  instead  of  'Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God,' 
'and  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God.'  They  had  no  sooner  heard 
this,  which  I  had  avoided  bringing  forward  until  then,  than 
they  all  exclaimed  in  contempt  and  anger,  'He  is  neither 
born  nor  begets,'  and  rose  up  as  if  they  would  have  torn 
me  in  pieces.  One  of  them  said,  'What  will  you  say  when 
your  tongue  is  burned  out  for  this  blasphemy?'  One  of 
them  felt  for  me  a  little,  and  tried  to  soften  the  severity 
of  this  speech.  My  book,  which  I  had  brought,  expecting 
to  present  it  to  the  King,  lay  before  Mirza  Shufi.  As 
they  all  arose  up,  after  him,  to  go,  some  to  the  King,  and 
some  away,  I  was  afraid  they  would  trample  upon  the 
book,  so  I  went  in  among  them  to  take  it  up,  and  wrapped 
it  in  a  towel  before  them,  w^hile  they  looked  at  it  and  me 
with  supreme  contempt.  Thus  I  walked  away  alone,  to 
pass  the  rest  of  the  day  in  heat  and  dirt.  What  have  I 
done,  thought  I,  to  merit  all  this  scorn  ?  Nothing,  thought 
I,  but  bearing  testimony  to  Jesus.  I  thought  over  these 
things  in  prayer,  and  found  that  peace  which  Christ  hath 
promised  to  His  disciples."^ 

But  his  testimony  was  not  wholly  in  vain,  even  in  those 
early  days.  We  read  of  one,  at  least,  who  accepted  the 
truth,  and,  as  Martyn  himself  said:  "Even  if  I  never 
should  see  a  native  converted,  God  may  design  by  my 
patience  and  continuance  in  the  word  to  encourage  future 
missionaries." 

Only  the  Last  Day  will  reveal  the  extent  of  the  influ- 
ence of  this  man,  w^ho,  wath  no  Christian  to  tend  or  com- 
fort him  in  his  last  illness,  laid  down  his  life  at  Tocat  on 
the  i6th  of  October,  1812.  He  was  the  first  of  that 
noble  band  of   missionaries   of   the   Church    Missionary 

^George  Smith,  "Henry  Martyn,"  466,  467. 


198  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE  TO   FAITH 

Society,  Bishop  French,  Hughes,  Elmslie,  Wade,  Clark, 
Hooper,  Gordon,  Bruce,  Klein  and  many  others  who  have 
emulated  him  in  their  endeavor  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the 
Moslems  of  India,  Persia,  Arabia,  Afghanistan,  Egypt 
and  Africa. 

For  Mohammedan  India,  Martyn  accomplished  most. 
And  from  the  time  of  Martyn  on,  many  missionaries  in 
India  have  done  definite  work  for  Moslems  as  well  as  for 
Hindus,  altho  not  to  as  great  an  extent.  Books  and 
tracts  were  prepared  specially  to  meet  Mohammedan  ob- 
jections. Moslem  pupils  attended  the  mission-schools, 
the  Scriptures  were  translated  into  the  other  languages 
used  by  Moslems,  and  in  more  recent  years  a  few  mis- 
sionaries have  been  set  apart  specially  for  this  work.  The 
missionary  societies  which  have  been  specially  active  are 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Society  for  the  Prop- 
agation of  the  Gospel,  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
the  Churches  of  Scotland's  Missions,  the  various  Amer- 
ican Presbyterian  Missions,  the  American  Methodist 
Episcopal  Mission  and  the  English  and  Australian  Bap- 
tist Missions.^ 

Persia  and  Arabia. — The  next  laborer  in  Persia  after 
Henry  Martyn  was  Karl  Gottlieb  Pfander,  missionary 
linguist  and  author,  who  left  so  wide  and  permanent  an 
impression,  not  only  in  Persia,  but  throughout  the 
Mohammedan  world,  through  his  celebrated  Misan-ul- 
Hak.  This  great  controversial  work  has  been  translated 
into  almost  every  Moslem  language  and  has  aroused 
more  interest  and  discussion  than  any  book  of  its  char- 
acter.^ He  was  sent  out  by  the  Basel  mission  in  1826. 
Altho  only  twenty-two  years  old,  he  began  the  study  of 

^E.  M.  W'herry,  "Islam  and  Christianity  in  India." 
'For  a  brief  description,  see  the  Table  opposite  page  214. 


^  .o 


^l 


^ttf-u^ 


,     ^  ^M^^""^- 

'^^X^  ■ 


FACSIMIJ.E  OF  THE  FIRST  PAGE  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  GERMAN 

MANUSCRIPT    OF    PFANDER'S    "MIZ.\N-UL-IIAK";    OR, 

"BALANCE   OF  TRUTH" 


Original  in  the  Basel  Mission  }*Iuseum 


198 


MISSIONS   TO   MOSLEMS  199 

three  languages,  Turkish,  Armenian  and  Persian.  In 
1829  he  went  to  Bagdad  to  learn  Arabic  and  two  years 
later  to  Ispahan.  On  a  missionary  journey  to  the  town 
of  Kermanshah,  after  a  discussion  with  the  Alullahs,  he 
came  near  to  winning  martyrdom.  But  God  spared  his 
life  and  he  labored  on,  first  in  Russia,  then  in  India  and 
finally  in  Constantinople.  Everywhere  his  tongue  and 
pen  were  mighty  forces  in  the  proclamation  of  the  truth. 
He  died  at  Richmond-on-the-Thames,  Dec.  ist,  1865.^ 

In  1827  Dr.  Joseph  Wolff  visited  Persia,  and  as  a  result 
of  his  writings  the  American  Board  determined  to  begin 
work  among  the  Nestorians.  In  1834  Rev.  J.  L.  Merrick 
went  out  under  the  same  Board  and  attempted  work 
among  Moslems,  but  the  way  was  not  open.  For  many 
years  the  work  of  the  American  missionaries  was  en- 
tirely among  the  Nestorians.  In  1871  this  mission  came 
under  the  Presbyterian  Board,  and  in  more  recent  years 
there  has  been  work  also  among  Moslems.  Some  have 
professed  Christ  openly  and  several  have  suffered  martyr- 
dom, among  them  Mirza  Ibrahim.- 

In  1869  the  Rev.  Robert  Bruce,  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society,  visited  Persia,  and  in  1875  that  society  began 
work  in  Ispahan.  Their  work  has  been  largely  among 
the  Mohammedans.  Three  other  stations,  Yezd,  Kirman 
and  Shiraz,  have  been  occupied,  and  the  work  has  been 
fruitful  in  results  to  a  remarkable  degree. 

The  pioneer  missionary  to  Arabia  was  Ion  Keith-Fal- 
coner, altho  there  were  efforts  made  before  his  time  to 
reach  Arabia  with  the  gospel  by  Dr.  John  Wilson  of 
Bombay  and  by  the  Bible  Society.^     The  statesmanlike 

^r.    F.    Eppler,    "Dr.    Karl    Gottlieb    Pfander,    Ein    Zeuge    der    Wahrheit 
unter  den    Bekcnnern  des   Islam."     (Basel,    1888.) 
-Sec  sketch  of  his  life  in  Robert  E.  Speer,  "Men  Who  Overcame." 
''S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  320,  325. 


^00  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

explorations  oi  the  coast  ot  Arabia  ana  of  Yemen  by 
Major-General  F.  T.  Haig,  and  his  plea  for  a  mission, 
led  Keith-Falconer  to  decide  on  Arabia  and  called  the 
attention  of  others  to  this  neglected  peninsula.  Keith- 
Falconer  did  not  live  long  (dying  at  Sheikh  Othman  on 
May  II,  1887,  after  less  than  two  years'  service),  but  he 
lived  long  enough  to  do  what  he  purposed,  "to  call  atten- 
tion to  Arabia."  The  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  has 
continued  his  work  at  Aden  and  inland;  the  Danish 
Church  has  recently  sent  out  workers  to  join  their  number. 
These,  with  the  Mission  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
at  Bagdad  and  the  (American)  Arabian  Mission  on  the 
east  coast  at  Busrah,  Bahrein  and  Muscat,  are  all  work- 
ing directly  for  Mohammedans  and  reaching  far  inland 
by  tours  and  hospital-service.  Arabia  has  been  rich  in 
martyrs.  Beside  that  of  Keith-Falconer,  it  holds  as  a 
heritage  of  promise  the  graves  of  Bishop  French,  Peter 
J.  Zwemer,  George  E.  Stone,  Harry  J.  Wiersum,  Dr. 
Marion  Wells  Thoms  and  Mrs.  Jessie  Vail  Bennett. 
The  Arabian  Mission  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, organized  in  1889,  now  has  nineteen  missionaries  on 
the  field,  with  twenty  native  helpers,  two  hospitals  and 
three  out-stations.^ 

The  Turkish  Empire. — The  territory  of  the  Turkish 
Empire  is  well  covered  by  mission  societies.  The  Amer- 
ican Board  is  the  oldest  in  the  field  and  occupies  Euro- 
pean Turkey,  Asia  Minor  and  Eastern  Turkey.  The 
Presbyterian  Church  (North)  occupies  Syria.  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  work  in  Bulgaria,  the 
Reformed  Presbyterians  in  Northern  Syria,  and  the 
Church   Missionary   Society   occupies   Palestine.     These 

^S.  M.  Zwemer,  "Arabia;  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  353-390;  Mission  Reports 
and  recent  numbers  of  Neglected  Arabia,  a  quarterly  issued  by  the  Arabian 
Mission,  25  East  22A  Street.   New  York  City, 


MISSIONS   TO    MOSLEMS  201 

are  the  chief  agencies  at  work  and  count  a  total  of  637 
foreign  missionaries,  yet,  according  to  the  "Encyclopedia 
of  Missions,"  "the  Church  Missionary  Society  is  the  only 
one  that  has  made  a  special  effort  to  establish  mission 
work  distinctively  for  Mohammedans."^ 

Until  recent  years  the  difficulties  of  the  problem  and 
the  terror  of  the  Turk  seem  to  have  prevented  direct  work 
for  Moslems,  altho  by  printing-press,  schools,  colleges, 
and  hospitals  many  Mohammedans  were  reached  indirect- 
ly and  sometimes  even  incidentally.  "The  missionaries 
have  devoted  a  relatively  small  part  of  their  time  and 
strength  to  the  ]\Ioslem  work.  In  Egypt,  Syria,  Turkey, 
and  Persia  the  greater  portion  of  the  energy  of  the  mis- 
sionaries has  been  devoted  to  work  for  Copts,  Maronites, 
Greeks,  Armenians,  Jews,  and  Nestorians.  Apart  from 
the  schools  (and  the  number  of  Mohammedan  pupils  in 
schools  in  Turkey  is  almost  inconsiderably  small)  com- 
paratively little  has  been  done.  Through  medical  mis- 
sionaries many  have  been  accessible  and  some  have  been 
reached,  but  we  do  not  have,  and  have  not  had  for  years, 
a  systematic  and  aggressive  though  tactful  and  quiet 
campaign  for  the  evangelization  of  Moslems."-  And 
one  needs  only  to  study  the  reports  of  these  societies  to 
see  how  little  the  Mohammedan  problem,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  comes  to  the  front.  At  the  Haystack  Cen- 
tennial at  Williamstown,  Mass.,  in  October,  1906,  Dr. 
James  L.  Barton  said :  "This  is  the  first  time  that  the 
question  of  missionary  work  for  Moslems  has  been  openly 
discussed  upon  the  platform  of  the  American  Board"  ;^ 

^"The  Encyclopedia  of  Missions,"  755.     (1904-) 

^Robert  E.  Speer,  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  270.  In 
some  of  the  colleges,  however,  the  number  of  Moslem  students  is  steadily 
increasing. 

3"The  Haystack  Centennial  Volume,"  2S9.     (Boston,   1907.) 


202  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

and  the  Jubilee  volume  of  the  same  society,  issued  after 
fifty  years  of  missionary  work,  has,  as  far  as  I  could  find, 
no  reference  to  Islam  in  text  or  index.  Yet  the  Ameri- 
can pioneers  in  the  Turkish  Empire  planned  the  mission 
with  direct  reference  to  the  Moslems.  *'We  must  not 
calculate  too  closely  the  chances  of  life,"  wrote  Mr.  Smith 
in  1827,  and  he  was  sure  that  the  missionary  ''would  find 
a  prop  upon  which  to  rest  the  lever  that  will  overthrow 
the  whole  system  of  Mohammedan  delusion."  Dr.  Per- 
kins and  Dr.  Grant  were  sent  to  the  Nestorians  "to  enable 
the  Nestorian  church,  through  the  grace  of  God,  to  exert 
a  commanding  influence  in  the  spiritual  regeneration  of 
Asia."^  Perhaps  these  early  ideals  were  lost  sight  of, 
or  more  probably  they  were  crushed  by  the  later  political 
restrictions  and  persecutions  in  Turkey,  so  that  direct 
work  was  not  attempted  or  was  impossible ;  nevertheless 
much  has  been  accomplished  in  the  face  of  tremendous 
difficulty  and  determined  opposition  for  the  future  evan- 
gelization of  Moslems.  ''Protestant  missions  have  given 
the  entire  population  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue ;  have 
trained  hundreds  of  thousands  of  readers;  published 
thousands  of  useful  books ;  awakened  a  spirit  of  inquiry ; 
set  in  motion  educational  institutions  in  all  the  sects  of 
all  parts  of  the  Empire,  compelling  the  enemies  of  edu- 
cation to  become  its  friends,  and  the  most  conservative  of 
Orientals  to  devote  mosque  and  convent  property  to  the 
founding  of  schools  of  learning.  It  has  broken  the  fet- 
ters of  womanhood.  .  .  .  Every  evangelical  church 
is  a  living  epistle  to  the  Mohammedans  with  regard  to 
the  true  nature  of  original  apostolic  Christianity.  .  .  . 
Encouraged  by  the  spirit  of  reform  and  modern  progress, 
even  the  Mohammedan  doctors  of  Constantinople  have 

^Robert  E.  Speer,  in  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  271. 


MISSIONS   TO   MOSLEMS  203 

issued  orders  that  all  editions  of  old  Alohammedan  au- 
thors which  recount  the  fabulous  stories  of  Moslem  saints 
and  Welys  are  to  be  expurgated  or  suppressed  and  not  to 
be  reprinted."^  As  a  single  striking  example  among  hun- 
dreds of  this  great  though  indirect  work  for  the  Moslem 
evangelization,  take  the  Arabic  version  of  the  Scriptures 
by  Drs.  Eli  Smith  and  Cornelius  Van  Dyck.  This  ardu- 
ous task  was  begun  in  1848  and  not  finally  completed  un- 
til 1865.  The  completion  of  this  matchless  version 
marked  an  epoch  in  missions  for  the  ]\lohammedan  world 
greater  than  any  accession  or  deposition  of  Sultans.  That 
Bible  made  modern  missions  to  Arabia,  Egypt,  Tunis, 
Tripoli  and  the  /Vrabic-speaking  world  possible.  And  it 
has  only  begun  its  conquests. 

North  Africa. — As  early  as  1825  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society  sent  a  band  of  five  Basel  men  to  Egypt,  one 
of  them  the  famous  Samuel  Gobat.  There  were  schools 
and  distribution  of  the  Scripture  and  conversations  with 
thoughtful  Copts  and  Moslems,  but  the  encouragement 
was  small.  Mohammedanism  appeared  unassailable.- 
The  first  American  missionaries  reached  Egypt  in  1854, 
and  every  student  of  missions  knows  how  their  mission 
has  spread  along  the  entire  Nile  Valley,  like  a  fruitful 
vine,  and  grown  in  numbers,  influence  and  results  chiefly 
among  the  Copts,  but  also  among  jNloslems.  For  exam- 
ple, in  1906,  over  three  thousand  Moslem  pupils  attended 
the  schools  of  the  American  Mission,  and  for  the  past  five 
years  meetings  for  public  discussion  on  the  difference 
between  Islam  and  Christianity  have  been  held  twice  a 
week  in  Cairo.  Special  literature  for  Moslems  has  also 
been  printed  and  distributed.     In  1882  the  Church  Mis- 

iH.  H.  Jessup,  in  the  "Encyclopedia  of  Missions,"  757- 

sEugene  Stock,  "History  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,"  Vol.  II,  i4/>> 


204  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

sionary  Society  resumed  its  work  in  Egypt  and  began 
work  directly  among  Moslems,  with  encouraging  results. 

In  1880  Mr.  George  Pearse  began  investigations  in  Al- 
giers which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  North  Africa 
Mission.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  single  Protestant 
missionary  between  Alexandria  and  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
Morocco,  nor  southwards  from  the  Mediterranean  almost 
to  the  Niger  and  the  Congo.^  Now  this  mission,  which 
works  very  largely  among  Moslems,  has  eighteen  sta- 
tions in  Egypt,  Tripoli,  Tunis,  Algiers  and  Morocco, 
manned  by  eighty-six  missionaries,  A  hospital  and  dis- 
pensary are  established  at  Tangier  and  a  dispensary  at 
Fez.  There  are  also  other  smaller  independent  missions 
working  in  North  Africa  and  very  recently  work  has  be- 
gun in  the  Soudan. 

**But,"  says  an  authority  on  Africa,  "for  every  mis- 
sionary to  the  Mohammedans  in  Africa  you  can  find 
twenty  missionaries  to  the  pagans  of  Africa  and  for  every 
convert  from  Mohammedanism  in  Africa  I  think  you  can 
find  one  thousand  converts  from  paganism  in  Africa. 
And  if  this  does  not  prove  that  the  real  missionary  prob- 
lem in  Africa  is  Mohammedanism,  I  scarcely  see  how 
that  point  could  be  proved  at  all."^  One-third  of  the 
population  of  Africa  is  Mohammedan,  and  yet  Moham- 
medan Africa,  though  nearest  to  Europe,  is  darkest 
Africa,  and  has  by  far  the  fewest  mission  stations. 

Malaysia. — Sumatra  and  Java  are  the  principal  and 
the  typical  fields  of  work  for  Moslems  in  Malaysia.  A 
.'Baptist  missionary  reached  Sumatra  as  early  as  1820, 
and  in  1834  Munson  and  Lyman  went  out  under  the 
American   Board,   but   were   brutally   murdered.        The 

^"The  Gospel  in  North  Africa,"  129. 

^Charles    R.    Watson,    at    the    Nashville    Student    Volunteer    Convention, 
"Students  and  the  Modern  Missionary  Crusade,"  458. 


A   MISSION  HOUSE  IX   CAIRO 

In  this  building  are  a  girls'  boarding-school,  a  bovs'  day  school,  a  chapel 
and  a  church,  and  living-rooms   of  missionaries 


MISSIONS   TO   MOSLEMS 


205 


Rhenish  Missionary  Society  entered  the  field  in  1861  and 
has  had  marvellous  success.  Other  societies  from  the 
Netherlands  also  labor  on  the  island.  Dr.  Schreiber,  for- 
merly inspector  of  the  Rhenish  Mission,  said:  ''I  do  not 
know  if  there  is  any  other  part  of  the  mission  field,  with 
the  exception  of  some  parts  of  Java,  where  such  large 
numbers  of  Mohammedans  have  been  won  for  Christ  as 
among  the  Battaks  of  Sumatra."^     The  attitude  of  the 


MAP  OF  THE  SOUDAN2 
Each  black  square  in   this   map  represents  one   million   people;   only  the 
shaded   squares   have  been  touched  by   missions. 


Dutch  Government  has  in  recent  years  greatly  changed, 
and  is  now  favorable  to  missions.  In  Sumatra  the  issue 
between  Christianity  and  Islam  was  boldly  faced  from  the 

^Harlan    P.    Beach,    "A    Geogrraphy   and    Atlas    of    Protestant    Missions," 
Vol.  I,  193,   194. 
-From  the  Missionary  Review  of  the  World. 


206  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

outset;  there  was  neither  fear  nor  compromise  in  mis- 
sion methods,  and  this  fact,  together  with  considerable 
freedom  to  preach,  perhaps  accounts  for  the  great  suc- 
cess in  winning  converts. 

Java  is  the  richest  and  largest  of  Dutch  colonial  pos- 
sessions. Six  Dutch  missionary  societies  labor  on  the 
island,  which  has  a  dense  population  of  28,746,688;  of 
these  24,270,600  are  Moslems.  Surely  a  large  and  diffi- 
cult field.  Yet  by  preaching,  the  sale  of  Scriptures  and 
medical  work  nearly  twenty  thousand  Mohammedans 
have  been  won  over  to  Christianity  in  Java — many  of 
them  at  great  cost  and  under  severe  persecution.  These 
miracles  of  grace  should  encourage  the  Christian  Church 
to  venture  out  boldly  and  use  every  method  possible  to 
gain  like  trophies  in  all  Moslem  lands.^ 

*"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  a22-239« 


METHODS  AND  RESULTS 


"If  these  great  things  are  to  be  achieved  we  must  pay  what 
it  costs.  What  will  be  the  price?  Undoubtedly  it  involves  giv- 
ing ourselves  to  the  study  of  missionary  problems  and  strategy 
with  all  the  thoroughness  and  tirelessness  which  have  character- 
ized the  intellectual  work  of  those  men  who  have  brought  most 
benefit  to  mankind.  It  will  cost  genuine  self-denial.  In  no 
sphere  so  much  as  that  of  extending  the  knowledge  and  sway  of 
Christ  is  the  truth  of  His  own  word  illustrated,  'Except  a  grain 
of  wheat  fall  into  the  earth  and  die,  it  abideth  by  itself  alone ; 
but  if  it  die,  it  beareth  much  fruit.'  " — John  R.  Mott  in  "The 
First  Two  Decades  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement." 


METHODS  AND  RESULTS 

How  to  reach  Moslems. — The  Mohammedan  mission- 
ary problem  is  a  challenge  to  our  faith,  for  it  is  beset  with 
many  difficulties,  and  there  are  opinions  current,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  the  effect  that  missions  to  the  Moslems  are 
fruitless,  if  not  hopeless.     Back  of  all  methods,  there- 
fore, we  need  faith,  such  faith  as  dwelt  in  the  pioneer 
heroes  who  led  the  attack  against  this  citadel  of  error— 
Raymund    Lull,    Petrus    Venerabilis,    Henry    Martyn, 
Pfander  and  Keith-Falconer.     Such  faith  exhibits  itself 
in  the  words  of  a  lady  missionary  in  Algiers,   Miss  L 
Lilias  Trotter:     'Take  it  at  its  very  worst.     They  are 
dead  lands  and  dead  souls,  blind  and  cold  and  stiff  in 
death  as  no  heathen  are ;  but  we  who  love  them  see  the 
possibilities  of  sacrifice,  of  endurance,  of  enthusiasm,  of 
life,  not  yet  effaced.     Does  not  the  Son  of  God,  who  died 
for  them,  see  these  possibilities,  too?     Do  you  think  He 
says  of  the  Mohammedan,  There  is  no  hope  or  help  for 
him  in  his  God'?     Has  He  not  a  challenge,  too,  for  your 
faith  ;  the  challenge  that  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the 
grave  where  Lazarus  lay?     'Said  I  not  unto  thee  that,  if 
thou   wouldst   believe,   thou    shouldst   see   the   glory   of 
God?     Then  took  they  away  the  stone.'     To  raise  the 
spiritually  dead  is  the  work  of  the  Son  of  God.     But  we 

209 


2IO  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

are  to  believe  and  take  away  the  stone  from  the  place 
where  the  dead  lay."^ 

The  Bible.— The  distribution  of  God's  Word  has 
proved  the  best  method  for  beginning  work  in  all  Moslem 
lands.  It  is  nearly  everywhere  permitted.  It  is  strong 
yet  inoffensive.  It  strikes  at  the  root  of  Islam  by  plac- 
ing the  Bible  over  against  the  Koran,  and  the  sublime 
story  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  the  Christ,  over  against  the  arti- 
ficial halo  that  surrounds  the  life  of  Mohammed.  In  this 
method  of  work  we  have  immense  advantage  over  Islam. 
Translations  of  the  Koran  into  other  Moslem  languages 
than  Arabic  exist,  but  they  are  rare,  expensive,  and  are 
necessarily  far  inferior  to  the  original  in  style  and  force. 
But  the  Bible  has  been  translated  into  nearly  every 
Mohammedan  tongue,  and  is  the  cheapest  and  best  print- 
ed book  in  the  Orient ;  nor  has  its  beauty  or  power  ever 
been  lost  in  a  good  translation.  The  Arabic  Koran  is  a 
sealed  book  to  all  non- Arabic-speaking  races,  but  the 
Bible  speaks  the  language  of  every  cradle  and  every 
market-place  in  the  Moslem  world.  Every  missionary  to 
Moslems  should  be  a  colporteur  and  every  colporteur  a 
missionary.  Distributions  should  be  by  sale,  not  by  free 
gift.  We  prize  that  which  we  pay  for.  Among  Mos- 
lems there  are  portions  of  Scriptures  which  are  especially 
acceptable  and  therefore  effective,  viz..  Genesis,  Mat- 
thew's Gospel,  John's  Gospel  and  the  Psalms. 

Medical  Missions. — These  break  up  the  fallow  ground 
of  prejudice  and  fanaticism,  are  possible  nearly  every- 
where, and,  when  conducted  with  evangelistic  zeal,  have 
proved  fruitful  in  results  as  has  no  other  agency.  The 
Punjab,  Persia  and  Egypt  are  examples.     Hospitals  and 

^From  one  of  her  missionary  leaflets,   entitled  "A   Challenge  to   Faith." 
(London),  to  which  the  author  is  indebted  for  the  sub-title  of  this  book. 


METHODS    AND    RESULTS  211 

dispensary  clinics  reach  the  crowded  centres,  but  med- 
ical missionary  touring  is  essential  in  sparsely  settled 
countries  like  Arabia,  Persia  and  Morocco. 

Educational  Institutions. — "To  make  wrong  right,  let 
in  the  light."  From  the  kindergarten  on  the  veranda  of 
a  mission  house  to  the  well-equipped  university  of  India, 
all  educational  forces,  great  and  small,  help  to  undermine 
that  stupendous  rock  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  Mos- 
lem tradition.  But  the  work  of  education  is  only  prepar- 
atory. The  New  Islam  of  India  and  Egypt  is  the  revolt 
of  the  educated  mind  against  traditionalism.  We  must 
reach  the  heart  and  conscience,  or  fail.  Education  is 
only  a  means  to  an  end. 

Preaching. — There  are  many  ways  of  doing  this  that 
are  more  suitable  to  Moslems  and  the  Orient  than  the 
pulpit  or  the  platform.  Preaching  in  this  larger  sense 
includes  talking  with  men  by  the  wayside,  or  in  the 
coffee-shop,  with  a  group  of  sailors  on  deck,  or  to  the 
Mohammedan  postman  who  brings  your  letters.  The 
glorious  liberty  of  bazaar  preaching  is  not  yet  granted  in 
many  Moslem  lands,  nor  do  Moslems  as  yet  come  in  large 
numbers  to  Christian  churches;  but  that  does  not  mean 
that  there  is  no  opportunity  for  preachers  or  preaching. 
It  is  well  to  remember  the  resolution  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  passed  as  early  as  1888:  ''While  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  missionary  work  in  lands  under 
Mohammedan  rule  may  well  appear  to  the  eye  of  sense 
most  formidable,  this  meeting  is  firmly  persuaded,  that, 
so  long  as  the  door  of  access  to  individual  Mohammedans 
is  open,  so  long  it  is  the  clear  and  bounden  duty  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  to  make  use  of  its  opportunities  for 
delivering  the  Gospel  message  to  them,  in  full  expecta- 
tion that  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will,  in  God's  good 


212  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

time,  have  a  signal  manifestation  in  the  triumph  of  Chris- 
tianity in  those  lands."  There  is  no  question  about  the 
door  of  access  to  individual  Moslems  being  open.  It  is 
wide  open  everywhere  for  men  and  for  women.  What 
single  lady  missionaries  have  done  and  are  doing  in 
North  Africa  and  Persia  among  fanatical  villagers 
proves  that  there  is  a  loud  call  for  women  to  preach 
to  their  Moslem  sisters  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ. 

Preaching  must  have  for  its  subject  the  essentials  of 
Christianity.  Preach  Christ  crucified.  Show  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  mysteries  of  revelation,  of  the  incarnation, 
and  of  the  Holy  Trinity;  but  never  try  to  explain  them 
by  mere  philosophy.  The  problem  is  to  reach,  not  the 
intellect,  but  the  heart  and  conscience,  to  arouse  it  from 
stupor,  to  show  the  grandeur  of  moral  courage  to  the 
man  who  is  intellectually  convinced  of  the  truth.  In  try- 
ing to  convince  the  will — that  citadel  of  man's  soul — we 
must  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance.  Yet  compromise 
must  not  take  the  place  of  tact. 

The  right  angle  for  the  presentation  of  truth  can  best 
be  learned  by  studying  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of 
Islam.  The  history  of  Moslem  theology,  for  example, 
shows  that  heterodoxy  has  nearly  always  been  connected 
with  a  strong  desire  for  a  mediator.  This  natural  long- 
ing for  an  intercessor  and  an  atonement  is  fully  supplied 
in  Christ,  our  Savior.  Again,  when  Moslems  object  to 
the  eternal  pre-existence  of  the  Word  of  God  as  a  form 
of  polytheism,  point  out  that  orthodox  Islam  holds  the 
Koran  to  be  eternal  and  uncreated  simply  because  it  is 
the  word  of  God.  Preach  to  the  Moslem,  not  as  a  Mos- 
lem, but  as  to  a  man — as  a  sinner  in  need  of  a  Savior. 
There  is  no  use  in  arousing  the  picket-guard  by  firing 


METHODS    AND    RESULTS  21 3 

blank  cartridges  before  the  attack,  yet  controversy  has  its 
place. 

The  Place  of  Controversy.— T\\2X  it  has  a  place,  and  an 
important  one,  in  reaching  Moslems  is  evident  from  the 
whole  history  of  Mohammedan  missions.  But  the  sub- 
ject is  a  large  one  and  perplexing,  because  it  is  hard  to 
look  at  things  from  the  Moslem  viewpoint.  Dr.  Tisdall's 
"Manual  of  the  Leading  Mohammedan  Objections  to 
Christianity"  is  indispensable  for  the  missionary,  and  is 
a  deeply  interesting  book  for  all  students  of  missions. 
Prayerful  contact  with  the  Moslem  mind  will  teach  one 
how  to  use  this  keen  weapon  to  the  best  advantage  in 
every  special  case.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  con- 
troversial literature  in  many  languages.  The  table  oppo- 
site page  214  shows  what  there  is  in  the  Arabic  language. 
In  dealing  with  inquirers  it  is  helpful  to  remember  three 
facts  and  three  texts  which  apply  to  such  cases : 

There  are  many  secret  believers  in  all  Moslem  lands 
of  whom  the  missionary  will  perhaps  never  know.  Pray 
for  them.  *'Yet  I  have  left  me  seven  thousand  in  Israel, 
all  the  knees  which  have  not  bowed  unto  Baal,  and  every 
mouth  which  hath  not  kissed  him."^ 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult,  even  in  countries  under 
Christian  rulers,  for  a  Moslem  to  break  away  from  Islam 
and  confess  Christ.  Be  tender  and  patient.  ''A  bruised 
reed  shall  He  not  break,  and  smoking  flax  shall  He  not 
quench,  till  He  send  forth  judgment  unto  victory."^ 

In  every  possible  way  encourage  public  confession  of 
Christ.  Living  apostles  who,  freed  from  the  yoke  of 
Islam,  preach  the  gospel  with  all  boldness  and  are  ready 
to  die  for  Christ,  such,  and  such  alone,  will  vanquish  the 
religion  of  Islam.     "Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  confess 

iRings  xix,   18.  ^'Isaiah  xlii,  3- 


214  ISLAM  :     A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH 

me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before 
men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father,  which  is  in 
heaven."^ 

Some  Results  of  Missions  to  Moslems. — The  results  of 
missionary  effort  for  Moslems,  or  in  Moslem  lands,  have 
been  direct  and  indirect.  The  latter  have  been  far  greater 
than  the  former  and  have  in  God's  providence  prepared 
the  way  for  the  final  assault  and  the  victory. 

The  preliminary  work  has  largely  been  accomplished. 
In  the  first  place  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  when  we 
study  the  map  of  the  Mohammedan  world  we  see  nearly 
every  strategic  Moslem  centre  occupied  by  Protestant 
missions.  The  following  cities,  each  of  which  has  a  pop- 
ulation of  over  100,000,2  and  a  very  large  Moslem  popu- 
lation, are  centres  of  missionary  effort  by  printing-press, 
hospital,  school  or  college,  and  in  each  of  them,  directly 
or  indirectly,  the  gospel  reaches  Moslems: 

'Population 

Calcutta 1,026,987 

Constantinople 1,106,000 

Bombay 776,006 

Cairo 570,062 

Madras 509,346 

Haidarabad 448,466 

Alexandria 319,766 

Teheran 280,000 

Lucknovv 264,049 

Rangoon 234,881 

Damascus 230,000 

Delhi 208,575 

Lahore 202,964 

Smyrna 201,000 

^Matthew  x,  32  and  33. 

'Figrures  of  population  taken  from  the  "Statesman's  Year  Book."     (1907.) 


f 


.  CLASSIFIED  TABLE  OF  SOME  ARABIC  CONTROVERSIAL  LITERATURE. 


DAT. 

*R«Bic  Tni.i: 

AOTHOt. 

pZt" 

c„AUAtT.„.roNTs»rs.BcoP...:TC. 

Cira, 
830 

;.*o?el  KiZy. 

•■AlKMu." 

(Translated  by  Sir  William 

Muir.) 

Arabic.  272. 
English.  122. 

Abd  el  Mes- 
siah el  Kindy 

at  Court  of 

Bagdad" ■ 

i3L. 

Kindy.     They  are  both  in  classical  Arabic.    The  treatment  of  Islam  is  very 

:s« 

Mi,an-i:l-H„t. 

•■Balance  of  Truth." 

(Transiale,l  by  Rev.  R.  II. 

WeakJey.) 

EngliTh.  133. 

Rev.  C.  G. 
Missionary. 

.IriiKc. 

eZim. 

C.  M.  House. 
London  1867. 

futes  Islam  and  the  claim,  of  Mohammed  M  prophet.  A  good  book  for 
those  who  have  leisure  and  inclination  to  read  a  solemn,  sohd  book,    Excel- 

- 

.,...,.. 

•■Sweet  First  Fmits." 

(Translated  by  Sit  WlUiam 

Muir.) 

Arabic.  242. 
English,  176. 

Syrian" 
Christian. 

Arabic. 
London.Cairo. 

R^j't' 
London. 

A  .(orj,  with  a  purpose.     Delightful  reading.     The  scene  is  Damascus,  and  the 

mostly  on  the  integrity  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  proofs  for  Christ's  divinity. 
It  is  eminently  suited  for  neariy  all  classes  of  Moslems,  All  agree  to  its  su- 
preme value  as  an  apologetic.     But  it  is  a  little  verbose,  and  might  have 

- 

Mi^r-cl-H^k. 

'^-^lEF"- 

Arabic,  136. 
English.  100. 

Syrian 

°\„gti,h. 
London.Cairo. 

I'hTt'rV"  ""■  "T^ ,"  TT  "'°i  t"\''fi' "'  ".i'"'':"^ """  r'l  '■'  ",'i  '°'™s 

:8»s 

MakaUl  H'l 

•■Treat.se  on  Islam.'^ 

Arabic.  400. 
English,  80. 

George  Sale 

Cairo. 

'J;:  ■^, ■:,::' -;,;,■    ,          ...,:;--'■="- 

;io! 

i  vols. 

•■Ri5ht  CiJance  " 

Vol.  I.  320. 

An  Egyptian 
Christian, 

American  Mi. 

'i-:-: :..  i -:::,.  ..■^ 

1886 

.llAIxil  Soib  el 

■■Proof  ol  Death  ol  Christ- 

80. 

Abd  Is,a. 

Eng.  London. 
Cairo.  C.  M.  S. 

Proofs  of  ChritVa  dtalh  from  prophecy  and  history.     Reasons  given  for  the 

1898 

H,ula.' 

-••The  Torch  of  Guidance  to 
Mystery  of  Redemption.^' 

25. 

Native. 

LofdonCairo. 

The  sacrifice  of  lattac  made  the  text  of  a  treatise  on  Sin  and  Redemption. 
Proofs  given  that  Moslem,  fear  death.    J.su.  save.,     A  „c..            ^^ 

1809 

Da-awa  d 

.■OaUtoMos^^stoRcad 

40. 

S.r  William 

1^ 

Burkan,, 

•■The  Clear  Proof,"  etc. 

43. 

Native. 

Cairo. 

1S98 

Ma™«,., 

•'Freedom  of  the  Bible 

13. 

Native, 

Cairo. 

Sunilar  to  the  above,  Wl  more  freatc.    Suitable  tor  simple-minded. 

1897 

.'^LnM-cI 
.Ua-.oo^   etc. 

Rouse's    Tracts    for    Slohani- 
medansinArttbiedrcs: 
from  English  version. 

10  to  15  each. 

Rev,  G,  H. 

Rouse.  D.  D.. 
of  Bengal. 

■&I,!Mad!^'. 

METHODS   AND   RESULTS  PA^ 

Population 

Cawnpore 197,170 

Agra 188,022 

Ahmadabad 185,889 

Tabriz 200,000 

Allahabad 172,032 

Tunis 250,000 

Amritsar 162,429 

Howra 157,594 

Poona 153,320 

Soerabaya  (Java) 146,944 

Bagdad 145,000 

Fez 140,000 

Patna 134,785 

Aleppo 127,150 

Beirut 118,800 

Karachi 1 16,663 

Many  other  cities  of  less  population,  but  not  less 
strategic,  are  also  mission  stations.  For  example,  Aden, 
Muscat,  Algiers,  Jerusalem,  Quetta,  Peshawar,  Yezd,  and 
so  forth.  The  efforts  carried  on  in  all  these  cities  prove 
that  work  for  Moslems  is  possible  under  all  conditions 
and  everywhere.  Yet  at  none  of  these  strategic  centres 
are  the  efforts  to  reach  Moslems  at  all  commensurate  with 
the  opportunities.  All  of  these  cities  are  calling  for  more 
laborers.  Each  is  a  challenge  and  a  vantage  point  for 
work  among  a  large  Moslem  population  yet  unreached. 

Another  result  which  we  have  already  mentioned  is 
that  the  Bible  has  been  translated  into  nearly  every  lan- 
guage spoken  by  Moslems.  Thousands  of  portions  of 
Scripture  are  already  in  use  by  Moslems  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  copies  are  being  sold  to  them  every  year  by  col- 
porteurs and  missionaries.  The  Beirut  Press  alone  has 
issued  over  a  million  volumes  of  the  Arabic  Scriptures 
since  it  was  founded.     The"  demand  for  the  vernacular 


2l6  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Bible  in  Persia,  Arabia,  Egypt,  and  the  Turkish  Empire 
is  phenomenal. 

Not  only  has  the  Bible  been  translated  and  widely  dis- 
tributed, but  a  large  and  important  body  of  Christian 
literature,  apologetic  and  educational,  is  ready  for  Mos- 
lems. This  is  especially  true  of  Arabic,  Persian,  Turkish, 
Urdu,  and  Bengali,  the  chief  literary  languages  of  Islam. 
The  weapons  are  ready  for  the  conflict.^ 

And  there  have  been  unconditional  surrenders.  It  is 
an  old  falsehood  widely  current  even  among  the  ignorant 
friends  of  missions,  that  "it  is  no  use  trying  to  convert 
Mohammedans,"  and  that  there  have  been  no  converts 
from  Islam.  The  fact  is,  as  we  have  seen,  that  there  was 
a  convert  from  Islam  even  before  the  death  of  Moham- 
med !^  And  there  have  been  converts  ever  since  in  all 
lands  where  the  gospel  was  preached  to  Moslems,  al- 
though not  as  many  as  there  might  have  been  but  for  our 
neglect.^ 

"The  accessions  from  Islam,"  says  Dr.  Wherry,  ''es- 
pecially in  Northern  India,  have  been  continuous  during 
all  the  years  since  the  death  of  Henry  Martyn.  One 
here  and  another  there  has  been  added  to  the  Christian 
Church,  so  that  now,  as  one  looks  over  the  rolls  of  church 
membership,  he  is  surprised  to  find  so  many  converts 
from  Islam,  or  the  children  and  children's  children  of 
such  converts.  In  the  north,  especially  the  Punjab,  and 
the  Northwest  Frontier  Province,  every  congregation  has 
a  representation  from  the  Moslem  ranks.  Some  of  the 
churches  have  a  majority  of  their  membership  gathered 
from  among  the  Mussulmans.  In  a  few  cases  there  has 
been  something  like  a  movement  among  Moslems  towards 

^"Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among  Moslems,"  79-95.  -See  page  23. 

'W,  A.  Shedd,  "Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches,"   148,  etc. 


o  = 


METHODS   AND   RESULTS  21/ 

Christianity,  and  a  considerable  number  have  come  out 
at  one  time.  But  perhaps  the  fact  which  tells  most  clearly 
the  story  of  the  advance  of  Christianity  among  Moslems 
in  India,  is  this,  that  among  the  native  pastors  and 
Christian  preachers  and  teachers  in  North  India  there 
are  at  least  two  hundred  who  were  once  follow^ers  of 
Islam."^ 

The  American  Mission  in  Egypt,  although  its  work  has 
been  chiefly  among  the  Copts,  reports  one  hundred  and 
forty  baptisms  of  adult  Moslems  during  its  history.  In 
Persia  there  are  Moslem  converts  at  every  station  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society.  Even  in  Arabia  and  in  the 
Turkish  empire  there  have  been  converts  and  martyrs  to 
the  faith.2  From  North  Africa,  the  latest  reports  tell 
us  that  at  almost  all  the  stations  there  have  in  past  years 
been  some  converts.  At  Fez  there  is  a  band  of  Chris- 
tians, nine  or  ten  of  whom  are  employed  as  colporteurs ; 
at  Jemaa  Sahrij  there  is  another  band,  and  these  meet 
in  two  stone  halls,  one  built  for  men  and  one  for  w^omen. 
xA.t  Tangier,  Alexandria,  Shebin  el  Kom  and  Tunis  there 
are  also  some  who  regularly  meet  with  the  missionaries 
to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

During  1906  some  thirty  IMoslems  were  converted  at 
Fez,  and  two  men  and  one  woman  were  baptized.  At 
Algiers  a  Kabyle  young  man  was  baptized  and  another 
converted.  At  Bizerta  a  man  was  baptized.  At  Alexan- 
dria also,  a  well  educated  man,  long  under  instruction 
since  his  conversion,  was  baptized.  Several  young  men 
were  converted  at  Jemaa  Sahrij.  At  Tripoli  a  convert 
of  many  years'  standing  died,  after  long  proof  of  his 
trust  in  Christ  for  salvation  and  much  quiet  preaching  to 

^E.   M.  Wherry,   "Islam  and   Christianity." 

'"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  19,  36,  39,  112,  126,  170,  etc. 


2l8  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Others.  At  Shebin  el  Kom,  on  New  Year's  eve,  ten  out 
of  a  gathering  of  eighteen  met  around  the  Lord's  Table 
at  midnight,  and  dedicated  themselves  afresh  to  God; 
seven  years  ago  there  was  not  a  single  convert  there. 

In  addition  to  these  pronounced  cases,  most  of  whom 
have  had  to  bear  persecution,  there  are  many  secret  dis- 
ciples.^ 

In  Sum^atra  the  Rhenish  mission  has  6500  converted 
Moslems,  11 50  catechumens,  80  churches,  5  pastors  and 
70  lay  preachers,  while  they  baptized  153  Mohammedans 
in  1906.  In  the  district  of  Si  Perok  a  Christian  convert 
from  Islam  has  become  chief  in  place  of  a  Mohamme- 
dan.^ 

In  Java  there  have  been  still  greater  numerical  results. 
According  to  latest  statistics  there  are  now  living  in  Java 
eighteen  thousand  who  have  been  converted  to  Christian- 
ity from  Islam  and  the  converts  from  Islam  amount  to 
between  three  hundred  and  four  hundred  adults  every 
year.^  In  Bokhara  and  the  Caucasus,  where  work  has 
only  just  begun,  a  number  of  Moslems  have  been  con- 
verted and  baptized.  The  testimony  of  a  Moslem  pro- 
fessor in  the  high  school  in  Bokhara,  now  a  convert,  may 
well  close  this  brief  summary  of  results.  Coming  from 
the  heart  of  Asia  and  of  the  Mohammedan  world,  his  word 
is  prophetic:  "/  am  conmnced  that  Jesus  Christ  will 
conquer  Mohammed.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it,  because 
Christ  is  King  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  and  His  Kingdom 
ails  heaven  nozv,  and  will  soon  fill  the  earth."'^  How 
soon  shall  it  be?     Are  not  the  results  already  attained  a 

''■North  Africa,   March,   1907,  34. 

*"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  222.  The  Missionary  Review  of 
the   World,    1907,   395. 

8C.  Albers  and  J.  Verhoeven  at  the  Cairo  Conference,  in  "The  Moham- 
medan World  of  To-day,"  237. 

*"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  244. 


METHODS   AND   RESULTS  219 

challenge  to  us  to  look  forward  with  faith  in  God  to  far 
greater  results?  ^'Hitherto  ye  have  asked  nothing  in  Aly 
name.    Ask  and  ye  shall  receive."^ 

ijohn  xvi,  24. 


THE  PROBLEM  AND  THE  PERIL 


"Yet  another  force  that  is  aggressively  our  enemy  is  Moham- 
medanism. We  see  it  actively  spreading  over  Africa,  where 
Christianity  is  not  progressive.  It  comes  with  the  Arab-slaver 
and  was  identified  with  the  slave  traffic.  It  comes  now  with  a 
certain  racial  pride  and  appeals  to  the  African,  because  it  seems 
to  link  him  with  a  great  world-empire." — Donald  Frazer  in  "Stu- 
dents and  the  Modern  Missionary  Crusade,"  p.  207. 

"Difficulties  are  not  without  their  advantages.  They  are  not 
to  unnerve  us.  They  are  not  to  be  regarded  simply  as  subjects 
for  discussion  nor  as  grounds  for  scepticism  and  pessimism. 
They  are  not  to  cause  inaction,  but  rather  to  intensify  activity. 
They  were  made  to  be  overcome.  Above  all  they  are  to  create 
profound  distrust  in  human  plans  and  energy,  and  to  drive  us 
to  God."— John  R.  Mott  in  "The  Evangelization  of  the  World 
in  This  Generation,"  p.  50, 


XI 

THE  PROBLEM  AND  THE  PERIL 

The  Evangelization  of  the  Mohammedan  World. — 
When  Samuel  J.  Mills  and  his  associates  met  under  the 
shelter  of  the  Haystack  one  hundred  years  ago,  they 
were  not  unmindful  of  the  difficulties  of  world-wide 
evangelization  nor  of  the  difficulties  of  reaching  Moham- 
medan lands.  Loomis  maintained  that  ''the  time  was  not 
ripe,  and  such  a  movement  was  premature.  If  mission- 
aries were  sent  they  would  be  murdered,  and  what  was 
needed  was  a  new  crusade  before  the  gospel  could  be  sent 
to  the  Turks  and  Arabs."  The  others  replied  that  God 
was  always  willing  to  have  His  kingdom  advanced,  and 
that  if  Christian  people  would  only  do  their  part,  God 
could  be  relied  on  to  do  His.  'We  can  do  it  if  we  will."^ 
We  know  now  that  Loomis  was  wrong  and  Mills  was 
right.  No  Christian  army  has  ever  subdued  Turkey  or 
Arabia,  yet  both  are  mission  fields.  And  surely  if  one 
hundred  years  ago  the  faith  of  these  men  of  the  Haystack 
did  not  stagger  at  the  obstacles,  but  accepted  the  chal- 
lenge, we  can  do  it  now  if  we  will.  The  evangelization 
of  the  Mohammedan  world,  of  which  we  have  had 
glimpses  in  the  foregoing  chapters — so  great  in  its  ex- 
tent, so  deep  in  its  degradation,  so  hopeless  without  the 

^Thomas  C.   Richard,   "Samuel  J.   Mills:   Missionary   Pathfinder,   Pioneer, 
and  Promoter,"  30,  31. 

223 


224  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

gospel — is  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  inspiring  prob- 
lems ever  undertaken  by  the  Church  of  Christ.  It  may 
be  a  work  of  "surpassing  difficulty  which  will  require  a 
new  baptism  of  apostolic  wisdom  and  energy,  faith  and 
love,"  and  may  **tax  the  intellect,  the  faith,  the  wisdom, 
the  zeal  and  the  self-denial  of  the  whole  church  in  every 
land";^  but,  unless  Christ's  great  commission  has  lost  its 
meaning  and  His  power  is  insufficient  for  this  undertak- 
ing, the  Mohammedan  world  must  and  will  be  evangel- 
ized. While  other  religions  and  systems  of  error  have 
fallen  before  Christian  missions,  like  Dagon  before  the 
ark  of  Jehovah,  Islam,  like  mighty  Goliath,  defies  the 
armies  of  the  living  God  and  the  progress  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  In  three  continents  it  still  presents  an  almost 
unbroken  phalanx,  armed  with  the  old  proud  and  aggres- 
sive spirit  of  defiance. 

Only  five  years  ago  Sheikh  Abd  ul  Hak,  of  Bagdad,  a 
Moslem  of  the  old  school,  wrote  an  article  on  behalf  of 
the  Pan-Islamic  league.  It  appeared  in  a  French  journal 
and  was  entitled,  "The  Final  Word  of  Islam  to  Europe." 
From  this  remarkable,  outspoken  and  doubtless  sincere 
defiance  we  quote  the  following  paragraph : 

"For  us  in  the  world  there  are  only  believers  and  un- 
believers ;  love,  charity,  fraternity  toward  believers ;  con- 
tempt, disgust,  hatred  and  war  against  unbelievers. 
Amongst  unbelievers  the  most  hateful  and  criminal  are 
those  who,  while  recognizing  God,  attribute  to  Him  earth- 
ly relationships,  give  Him  a  son,  a  mother.  Learn  then, 
European  observers,  that  a  Christian  of  no  matter  what 
position,  from  the  simple  fact  that  he  is  a  Christian,  is  in 
our  eyes  a  blind  man  fallen  from  all  human  dignity.  Other 

^H.  H.  Jessup,  "The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,"  Z2,  23.  Li. 
"The  Inaccessible  Fields  of  Islam  and  How  to  Reach  Ihem,  '  Dr.  James 
S.  Dennis,  in  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad  (Am.   fract  bociety,  New  York), 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE    PERIL  22$ 

infidels  have  rarely  been   aggressive  toward   us.      But 
Christians  have  in  all  times  shown  themselves  our  bitter- 
est enemies.    .    .    .    The  only  excuse  you  offer  is  that  you 
reproach  us  with  being  rebellious  against  your  civiliza- 
tion.    Yes,  rebellious,  and  rebellious  till  death !     But  it  is 
you,  and  you  alone,  who  are  the  cause  of  this.     Great 
God !  are  we  blind  enough  not  to  see  the  prodigies  of  your 
progress?     But  know.  Christian  conquerors,  that  no  cal- 
culation, no  treasure,  no  miracle  can  ever  reconcile  us  to 
your  impious  rule.     Know  that  the  mere  sight  of  your 
flag  here  is  torture  to  Islam's  soul ;  your  greatest  benefits 
are  so  many  spots  sullying  our  conscience,  and  our  most 
ardent  aspiration  and  hope  is  to  reach  the  happy  day  when 
we  can  efface  the  last  vestiges  of  your  accursed  empire.  '^ 
In  view  of  such  an  attitude  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
leaders  of  Islam,  Christendom  must  answer  the  challenge 
with  a  new  and  nobler  crusade  than  that  of  politics  or 
commerce.     The  unselfishness  of  sacrificial  love  must  be 
manifested  in  the  work  of  missions  that  we  may  win  the 
love  of  men  like  Abd-ul-Hak  in  spite  of  their  hatred 
toward  us.     We  must 

"Through  the  promise  on  God's  pages, 
Through  His  work  in  history's  stages, 
Through  the  Cross  that  crowns  the  ages. 
Show  His  love  to  them." 

Islam  as  a  religion  is  doomed  to  fade  away  in  time  be- 
fore the  advance  of  humanity,  civilization  and  enlighten- 
ment •  but  whether  its  place  will  be  taken  by  atheism,  by 
some  new  false  religion,  or  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  depends, 
humanly  speaking,  upon  the  measure  of  our  devotion  to 

iQuoted  in  Der  ChrisfHche  Orient,  Vol.  IV,  145-  (Berlin.)  And  also,  at 
the  time,  in  other  papers  from  the  French  original. 


226  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH 

our  Lord  and  our  consciousness  of  the  Moslem's  need  of 
Him. 

There  are  many  factors  in  this  great  problem  of  Mos- 
lem evangelization,  each  of  which  is  a  challenge  to  faith. 
Whether  we  look  at  the  lost  opportunities  because  of  neg- 
lect in  the  past  or  turn  to  the  greater  opportunities  of  to- 
day ;  whether  we  consider  the  extent  of  Islam  or  its  char- 
acter, the  problem  is  so  colossal  that  we  are  shut  up  to 
faith  in  God.  All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believ- 
eth.  *'By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down  after  they 
were  compassed  about  seven  days."  He  can  do  it  if  He 
will,  and  we  can  do  it  with  Him. 

Occupied  and  Unoccupied  Lands. — In  the  previous 
chapters  we  have  seen  something  of  the  work  of  missions, 
direct  and  indirect,  in  lands  like  Egypt,  Turkey,  India, 
Sumatra,  Java,  and  Syria,  where  for  many  years  the  Mos- 
lem populations  have  come  more  or  less  in  contact  with 
missions.  These  lands  and  others  more  recently  entered 
may  in  a  sense  be  considered  occupied.  Yet  there  is  not 
a  single  one  of  them  where  the  total  number  of  laborers 
is  in  any  sense  adequate  to  the  work  of  evangelization. 
In  Egypt,  for  example,  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  Mos- 
lem population  is  reached  in  any  way  by  the  gospel.  The 
unoccupied  lands  and  regions  are  those  where  nothing 
has  yet  been  done  and  where  there  are  neither  mission 
stations  nor  mission  workers. 

Perhaps  a  more  distinctive  though  not  more  compre- 
hensive classification  of  Moslem  lands  in  relation  to  Chris- 
tian missions  is  that  given  by  Dr.  Weitbrecht.^  He 
groups  them  into  three  classes : 

(i)   The   lands  where  Islam  is   dominant  or  greatly 

^H.    U.    Weitbrecht,    Paper   on    the    Cairo    Conference    at    the    Anglican 
Church  Congress.     1906. 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE    PERIL  227 

preponderant  and  has  been  long  established.  Such  are 
North  Africa,  Arabia,  Turkey,  Persia,  and  Central  Asia, 
including  Afghanistan.  In  these  lands  the  remnants  of 
the  Christian  churches,  where  they  exist  at  all,  have  been 
worn  out  by  centuries  of  oppression,  and  though  they 
have  not  abandoned  their  faith,  they  do  not  preach  it  to 
Moslems,  and  almost  fear  to  admit  a  ^loslem  convert. 
And  wherever  Moslem  rule  obtains  in  these  lands  there  is 
no  liberty  to  confess  Christ,  and  the  life  of  each  convert 
from  Islam  is  in  daily  jeopardy.  Yet  educational,  medi- 
cal and  literary  work  for  Moslems  has  proved  possible 
where  it  has  been  tried.  All  these  forms  of  efifort  should 
be  pushed,  therefore,  to  their  utmost  and  new  centres 
rapidly  occupied. 

(2)  The  lands  of  ancient  pagan  civilization,  where 
Islam  has  been  modified  by  contact  with  cultured  pagan- 
ism and  where  Moslems  are  in  the  minority.  Such  are 
India  and  China.  In  India  there  have  been  many  con- 
verts, and  a  considerable  literature  has  been  prepared  for 
Moslems,  but  the  unique  opportunities  for  direct  mission- 
ary effort  have  not  been  fully  met.  With  the  largest 
Mohammedan  population  of  any  country  on  the  globe 
before  them,  the  missions  in  India  are  vitally  concerned  in 
the  iMohammedan  missionary  problem  and  should  lead  all 
lands  in  its  solution.  In  China  we  have  to  confess  that 
in  view  of  the  appalling  pagan  population  of  the  Empire 
special  work  among  its  thirty  million  ^loslems  is  non- 
existent.^ 

(3)  The  border-marches  of  Islam  in  Africa  and  Ma- 
laysia. Here  we  have  to  do  with  masses  of  newly  con- 
verted tribes  on  the  pagan  frontiers,  where,  as  Pastor 
Wiirz  shows,  "it  is  often  hard  to  tell  just  where  paganism 

^H.  O.  Dwight,  "Blue  Book  of  Missions,"  S6.     (1905.) 


225  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

ceases  and  Islam  begins.  Those  who  profess  Islam  still 
worship  their  fetiches  and  cling  to  rum."^  In  these  lands 
we  are  face  to  face  with  one  of  the  greatest  responsibili- 
ties of  the  Christian  Church,  as  we  shall  note  later  when 
we  consider  the  JMoslem  peril  in  Africa. 

Among  the  countries  occupied  perhaps  the  most  no- 
table strategic  point  is  Eg)  pt.  In  lozcer  Egypt  the  Mos- 
lems form  about  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  population 
and  in  upper  Egypt  about  eighty-eight  per  cent.  The  need 
of  the  country  is  therefore  the  need  of  the  Moslems.^ 
Egypt  is  under  British  rule  and  connected  by  regular  rail 
and  steamboat  service  with  distant  points  in  Africa. 
Cairo  is  the  literary  capital  of  the  Mohammedan  world, 
as  ]\Iecca  is  its  religious  and  Constantinople  its  political 
capital.  ''As  rapidly  as  experts  trained  in  Koranic  lore 
can  be  educated  for  the  reinforcement  of  the  workers 
now  on  the  ground,  the  Christian  Church  should  drive  a 
wedge  into  this  outwork  of  the  great  stronghold."^ 

The  strategic  centres  of  Moslem  population,  given  in 
the  last  chapter,  are  also  many  of  them,  because  of  their 
geographical  position,  commercial  centres,  and  stand  at 
the  cross-roads  of  international  communication  between 
Moslem  lands.  The  importance  of  massing  our  spiritual 
forces  here  cannot  be  overestimated.  A  book  sold  at 
Cairo  may  be  read  by  the  camp-fires  of  the  Sahara,  in  the 
market-place  of  Timbuktu  or  under  the  very  shadow  of 
the  Kaaba.  Were  a  strong  mission  established  for  the 
Mohammedans  of  Bombay,  its  influence  would  reach  far 
along  the  coast  of  India  and  to  the  Moslem  traders  of 
]\Ialabar  and  Ceylon.  These  strategic  centres  are  an 
appeal  for  immediate  reinforcement  and  a  call  to  come 

^"Die  Mohammedansche   Gefahr  in  West  Afrika,"   i8. 

2"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  22. 

^H.  O.  Dwight,  "Blue  Book  of  Missions,"  84-     (1905.) 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE    PERIL 


229 


to  the  help  of  those  who,  often  single-handed,  are  fight- 
ing against  fearful  odds  and  still  winning  the  battle  inch 
by  inch. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  those  lands  where  Moham- 
m^'s  rule  has  never  yet  been  challenged  and  where  vast 
areas  are  without  any  missionary?  Surely,  if  anywhere 
in  the  world,,  here  is  opportunity.  The  very  dangers, 
loneliness,  hardships  of  such  pioneer  fields  will  prove  an 
irresistible  attraction  to  men  of  heroic  stamp. 

"So  near  is  grandeur  to  the  dust, 
So  close  is  God  to  man, 
When  duty  whispers,  'Lo !  thou  must,' 
The  youth  replies,  'I  can.'  " 

Beginning  with  Africa,  the  following  areas  are  un- 
occupied by  missions.  In  the  Central  Soudan,^  one  of 
the  most  densely  populated  portions  of  Africa,  are  these 
States  (larger  some  of  them  than  New  York,  Wisconsin 
or  Ohio)  waiting  for  the  gospel : 


The  Land 

Kordofan 
Darfur 

Wadai 


Bagirmi 

Kanem 

Adamawa 

Bornu 
Sokoto 

Gando 


Nupe 


The  Size  of 

England 
France 

(  Italy  and 

\  Ireland 

r  Switzerland 

I    Holland 

{    Belgium 

I       and 
Tasmania 
Greece  and 
Denmark 

Turkey  in 
Europe 

England 

Japan 
Scotland 

and 
Ireland 

Bulgaria 


Gov'm't 

British 
British 

r  French 

I 

1-  French 

I 

French 

German 

and 
British 
British 

British 


British 


British 


Missionaries 

None 
None 

None 


None 


i   German        ^ 
\       and  C 

y  British  J 


None 

None 

None 

5  C.  M.  S. 
workers 

None 

6  Canadian 
workers. 


i"The  Call  of  the  Soudan,"  Missioyiary  Review  of  the  World,  January,  1907. 


230  islam:    a  challenge  to  faith 

'Taking  the  parallel  of  latitude  that  would  touch  the 
northern  bend  of  the  Niger  as  the  northern  limit,  and  that 
which  would  touch  the  northern  bend  of  the  Congo  as  the 
southern  limit,  and  modifying  these  boundaries  at  either 
side  of  the  continent  so  as  to  omit  the  mission  stations 
on  the  West  Coast  and  on  the  upper  courses  of  the  Nile, 
we  find  a  territory  about  equal  to  that  of  the  United 
States,  and  far  more  densely  populated,  without  a  single 
representative  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  With  a 
mission  station  just  established  by  the  United  Presbyte- 
rians of  America  on  the  Sobat  River,  of  the  Upper  Nile 
basin,  and  with  the  stations  opened  by  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  and  the  United  Soudan  Mission  in  the 
Niger  basin,  1500  miles  to  the  west,  the  situation  pre- 
sented is  as  if  the  United  States,  with  her  85,000,000  of 
people,  had  one  missionary  in  Maine  and  another  in 
Texas,  and  no  gospel  influence  hetzveen."'^ 

And  the  problem  in  all  this  vast  region  is  the  problem 
of  Islam.  Hear  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  J.  Aitken: 
*'When  I  came  out  in  1898,  there  were  few  Mohamme- 
dans to  be  seen  below  Iddah.  Now  they  are  everywhere, 
excepting  below  Abo,  and  at  the  present  rate  of  progress 
there  zvill  scarcely  he  a  pagan  village  on  the  river  hanks 
hy  1910.  Then  we  shall  begin  to  talk  of  Mohammedan 
missions  to  these  people,  and  anyone  who  has  worked  in 
both  heathen  and  Mohammedan  towns  knows  what  that 
means. "2 

If  Dr.  Kumm's  estimates  are  trustworthy,  this  great 
destitute  district  of  the  Soudan,  one  of  the  most  strategic 
and  the  most  important  unoccupied  territories  in  the 
world,  has  a  population  of  at  least  fifty  millions.     And 

^W.  S.  Naylor,  "Unoccupied  Mission  Fields  in  Africa,"  Missionary  Review 
of  the  World,  March,  1906.     See  map  on  page  159. 
'"The  Call  of  the  Soudan,"  Ibid.,  January,   1907. 


THE    PROBLEM    AND  THE   PERIL  23I 

yet  only  sixteen  missionaries  are  found  in  the  entire  area, 
namely,  at  Sokoto  and  Nupe.  All  of  the  other  lands  are 
destitute.  Within  twenty  years  it  will  be  settled  whether 
Islam  or  Christianity  shall  be  dominant  and  triumphant. 
All  the  indications  now  are  that  Islam  is  fast  winning  the 
field.^ 

Turning  from  darkest  Africa  to  Asia,  we  find  in  this 
continent  a  situation  hardly  less  needy  and  with  even 
greater,  because  more  varied,  opportunity.  In  Asia  the 
following  lands  and  areas  of  Moslem  population  are  still 
wholly  unreached:^ 

Estifnated 
Moslem 
Population 

Afghanistan 4,000,000 

Baluchistans 750,ooo 

Hejaz,  Hadramaut,  Nejd  and  Hassa  (Arabia) 3,500,000 

Southern  Persia 2,500,000 

Russia  in  Caucasus 2,000,000 

Russia  in  Central  Asia 3,000,000 

Bokhara* 1,250,000 

Khiva 800,000 

Mindanao    ( Philippines) 250,000 

Siberia  (East  and  West) 6,100,000 

China  (unreached  sections) 20,000,000 

44,150,000 

These  unevangelized  millions  in  Asia,  all  of  them  under 
the  yoke  of  Islam,  are  a  challenge  to  faith,  and  in  some 
cases  a  rebuke  for  the  neglect  of  the  church.  Kafiristan, 
one  of  the  five  provinces  of  Afghanistan,  is  a  sad  exam- 
ple.    *'It  was  a  sorrowful  day  for  them,"  writes  Colonel 

^H.  Karl  Kumm,  "The  Soudan." 

^''Statesman's  Year  Book,"  1907;  and  "Blue  Book  of  Missions,"   1905. 

*Has  one  mission  station  at  Ouetta. 

*Work  just  begun  at  one  station. 


2^2  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

G.  Wingate,  ''when  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen  in  the  BritibU 
Foreign  Office  eleven  years  ago  their  country  was 
brought  within  the  boundaries  of  Afghanistan.  At  last 
the  Kafirs  were  the  subjects  of  the  Ameer.  In  consulta- 
tion with  Ghulam  Haider,  his  commander-in-chief,  he  de- 
termined to  convert  them  and  bring  them  into  the  fold  of 
Islam.  The  distasteful  offices  of  the  mullah  were  offered 
at  the  muzzle  of  the  breech-loader,  the  rites  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan belief  were  enforced  upon  an  unwilling  people, 
mosques  took  the  place  of  temples,  the  Koran  and  the 
traditions  of  the  Caliphate  would  be  the  spiritual  regen- 
eration of  the  pagan  Kafir.  Yet  twenty-five  years  ago  a 
message  from  the  Kafirs  of  the  Hindu  Kush  stirred  the 
Christian  Church ;  they  asked  that  teachers  might  be  sent 
to  instruct  them  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  a 
sad  example  of  how  an  opportunity  may  be  lost,  for  to- 
day there  is  imposed  between  the  ambassador  for  Christ 
and  the  eager  Kafir  the  hostile  aggression  of  a  Moham- 
medan power  intensely  jealous  of  the  entrance  of  the 
foreigner."^ 

The  Mohammedans  now  under  the  American  flag  in 
the  Philippine  Islands  have  a  special  claim  on  the  Amer- 
ican churches.  And  who  can  tell  whether  tactful,  loving 
labor  among  them  would  not  be  rewarded  with  a  speedy 
harvest  of  souls,  as  was  the  case  among  the  Battaks  of 
Sumatra?  'The  isles  shall  wait  for  His  law."  And  who 
will  take  up  the  burden  of  Islam  in  Russia  and  China 
with  a  total  number  of  Mohammedans  in  these  two  em- 
pires of  over  forty  millions  ? 

Lastly,  there  are  great  and  effectual  doors  to  be  opened 
where  there  are  many   adversaries — pioneer   fields   that 

^G.    Wincrate,    "Unevangelized    Regions    in   Central  Asia,"    The   Missionary 
Review  of  the  World,  May,  1907.    Kafiristan  signifies  "Land  of  Unbelievers." 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE   PERIL  233 

await  heroic  faith — in  Arabia,  in  Persia,  in  Afghanistan, 
in  Central  Asia.  Nothing  is  too  hard  for  prayer  to  ac- 
compHsh,  and  Hves  laid  down  in  loving  service ;  the  things 
that  are  impossible  with  men  are  possible  with  God.  "If 
neither  treaties  nor  frontiers  can  exclude  the  pioneers 
of  trade  or  the  artificers  of  workshops,  or  the  physician 
and  surgeon,  how  much  less  should  such  barriers  avail 
to  shut  out  that  Gospel  which  hath  a  pathway  of  its  own 
across  the  mountain  ranges  into  forbidden  territory,  mov- 
ing from  heart  to  heart,  in  a  manner  that  rulers  cannot 
restrain,  and  bringing  to  the  sin-sick  soul  peace  and  to 
the  weary  rest.  The  Story  of  the  Central  Asia  Pioneer 
Mission  shows  that  God  is  even  now  leading  some  to 
attempt  to  reach  these  mid-Asian  territories  with  the 
gospel."^ 

The  Moslem  Peril. — The  problem  of  evangelizing  the 
Moslem  peoples  of  Africa  and  Asia  is  not  only  a  vast 
one  and  one  too  long  neglected,  but  an  urgent  one. 
Islam  is  aggressive  and  is  to-day  overrunning  districts 
once  pagan.  Its  numbers  are  increasing  in  Bengal, 
Burma,  Southern  India,  the  East  Indies,  West  Africa, 
Uganda,  the  Congo  basin,  Abyssinia,  and  on  the  Red  Sea 
littoral.  On  the  west  coast  of  Southern  India  "the  Ma- 
pillas  are  now  energetic  in  propagating  Islam  and  their 
numbers  have  increased  from  612,789  in  1871  to  912,920 
in  1901."^ 

In  West  Africa  and  Nigeria  missionaries  speak  of  a 
"Mohammedan  peril."  They  say  every  effort  should  be 
made  to  forestall  the  entrance  of  Islam  into  the  border- 

KI.  Wingate,  "ITnevang-elized  Regions  in  Central  Asia";  also  "Story  of 
the  Central  Asia  Pioneer  Mission,"  procurable  at  the  oflfice  of  the  Mission, 
2  and  4  Tudor  Street,  London,  E.  C. 

*"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  179.  See  also  article  on  "Islam 
and   Christian   Missions,"  in  The  Church  Missionary  Review  for  April,   1907. 


234  ISLAM  :     A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH 

lands  before  his  religion  renders  evangelization  tenfold 
more  difficult  than  it  is  among  African  pagans.  In  West- 
ern Africa  Islam  and  Christianity  between  them  are  spoil- 
ing heathenism  and  will  probably  divide  the  pagan  peo- 
ples in  less  than  fifty  years. ^  Pastor  F.  Wiirz,  secretary 
of  the  Basel  Mission,  in  a  recent  pamphlet,  sounds  the 
alarm  of  this  Mohammedan  aggression  as  a  peril  to  the 
native  church.  He  states  that  the  situation  on  the  Gold 
Coast  is  alarming.  In  one  village  a  native  preacher,  with 
his  entire  congregation,  went  over  to  Islam.  ''Missions 
will  scarcely  be  able  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  Islam 
among  a  single  tribe,  much  less  into  large  districts.  Islam 
is  spreading  with  the  certainty  and  irresistibleness  of  a 
rising  tide.  The  only  question  is  whether  it  will  still  be 
possible  for  missions  to  organize  Christian  churches  like 
breakwaters,  able  to  resist  the  flood  and  outweather  it, 
or  whether  everything  will  be  carried  away  headlong."^ 
(See  the  map  opposite  page  156.)  The  Soudan  United 
Mission  calls  the  attention  of  Christendom  to  the  present 
crisis  in  Hausa-land.  All  the  heathen  populations  of  the 
Central  Soudan  will  go  over  to  Islam  unless  the  Church 
awakes  to  its  opportunity.  It  is  now  or  never ;  it  is 
Islam  or  Christ!^  And  there  are  other  lands  where  the 
crisis  is  equally  acute,  though  not  extended  over  as  large 
an  area  as  in  Africa.  In  regard  to  the  district  of  Khelat, 
in  Baluchistan,  the  Rev.  A.  D.  Dixey  testifies  that  the 
inhabitants  are  still  only  nominal  Mohammedans  and  not 
bigoted.  "They  will  listen  now,  but  in  a  few  years  they 
will  have  become  fanatical." 

In  Borneo  there  is  a  special  call  for  workers  among 
the  Dayaks,  who  are  not  yet  Mohammedan,  but  are  in 

^"The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day,"  47. 

'"Die  Mohammedansche  Gefahr  in  West  Afrika,"  24,  25.     (Basel,   1904.) 

»H.  Karl  Kutnm,  "The  Soudan." 


X;     '' 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE   PERIL  235 

danger  of  speedily  becoming  such  through  the  influence 
of  Mohammedan  Malays,  by  whom  they  are  surrounded.^ 
In  India  there  are  to-day  a  multitude  of  low-caste  people, 
especially  in  Bengal,  who  will  shortly  become  Moslems 
or  Christians.  Ten  millions  in  Bengal  have  become  Mos- 
lems.- 

On  the  other  hand,  Islam  itself  is  alarmed,  and  in  many 
parts  of  the  world  there  is  a  feeling  that  something  must 
be  done  to  save  the  faith  of  the  Prophet.  In  India  they 
are  forming  Societies  for  the  Defence  of  Islam ;  they  are 
establishing  presses  for  the  production  of  literature  to 
propagate  their  faith ;  they  are  copying  missionary  meth- 
ods and  engaging  Aloslem  preachers  to  counteract  the 
work  of  Christian  missions.  They  use  the  substance  of 
infidel  literature  from  Europe  and  America  and  articles 
on  the  higher  criticism  to  prove  that  Christianity  is  not 
true  and  that  its  leaders  are  not  agreed  on  the  funda- 
mentals of  its  teaching.^  What  will  be  the  issue  if  the 
Mohammedan  propagandists  in  Africa,  as  well  as  those 
in  India,  begin  to  use  the  methods  of  Christian  missions  ? 
The  situation  is  one  full  of  peril  to  the  native  church. 
This  aspect  of  the  problem  was  treated  in  a  masterly 
paper  by  Professor  Carl  Meinhof,  of  the  University  of 
Berlin,  at  a  recent  conference.*  He  shows  that  every 
mission  in  Africa,  north  of  the  equator,  will  be  compelled 
sooner  or  later  to  do  direct  work  for  Moslems  or  imperil 
its  very  existence. 

^Harlan  P.  Beach,  "A  Geography  and  Atlas  of  Protestant  Missions,"  Vol. 
I,  192. 

^Bishop  Warne,   "Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among  Moslems,"  27. 

8B.  R.  Barber,  of  Calcutta,  in  "Students  and  the  Modern  Missionary 
Crusade,"  456. 

••"Zwingt  uns  die  Heidenmission  Muhammedaner  Mission  zu  treiben?" 
Vortrag  gehalten  auf  der  Eisenacher  Gemeinschafts  Konfcrenz  am  6  Juni, 
1906.    (Osterwieck-Harz,  1906.) 


2'^6  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

A  writer  in  Uganda  Notes  gives  the  same  testimony : 
''Egypt  draws  perceptibly  nearer  to  Uganda.  The  most 
northerly  station  of  the  Uganda  Mission,  at  Gondokoro, 
whither  two  Baganda  evangelists  were  sent  in  February, 
is  distant  only  112  miles  from  Bor,  where  the  Soudan 
party  are  settled.  Lower  Egypt  is  a  stronghold  of  Islam, 
and  the  followers  of  that  religion  are  ever  busy  carrying 
their  creed  southward  through  Upper  Egypt  towards  the 
confines  of  this  Protectorate.  Many  of  the  Nile  tribes 
have  already  embraced  Islam,  though  the  tribes  to  the 
north  of  our  missions  in  Bunyoro  are  still  heathen.  If 
these  tribes  are  left  to  accept  Mohammedanism  before  the 
Gospel  is  carried  to  them,  the  difficulty  of  our  work  in 
these  regions  will  undoubtedly  be  seriously  enhanced. 
...  As  far  as  Uganda  itself  is  concerned,  Islam  is, 
of  course,  infinitely  less  a  power  than  it  once  was,  when 
in  the  troublous  early  days  of  Christianity  it  threatened 
to  overwhelm  the  combined  heathen  and  Christian  forces 
arrayed  against  it.  But  it  is  not  only  from  the  north 
that  the  followers  of  Islam  are  threatening  an  invasion. 
From  the  eastern  side  the  railway  has  brought  us  into 
intimate  association  with  coast  influence;  Swahilis  and 
Arabs  coming  up  the  line  leave  Islamism  in  their  wake, 
for  almost  every  Moslem  is  more  or  less  of  a  missionary 
of  his  faith.  Would  that  the  same  might  be  said  of 
Christians!  Not  a  few  Moslems  are  holding  important 
positions  in  Uganda,  while  the  larger  number  of  those  in 
authority  in  Busoga  are,  or  were  till  quite  recently,  also 
Mohammedans.  The  followers  of  the  false  prophet  have 
a  great  influence  among  the  natives,  which  does  not 
give  promise  of  becoming  less  as  time  goes  on.  There 
is  a  distinct  danger  of  the  Eastern  Province  becoming 
nominally    Moslem    before    Christianity    has    made    for 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE    PERIL  237 

itself    a    favorable    impression    on    the    minds    of    the 
people:'^ 

Pan-Islainisjn. — Another  indication  of  Moslem  activity 
is  the  movement  known  as  Pan-Islamism.  This  term  is 
used  by  Moslems  themselves  to  describe  the  political  and 
social  combination  of  all  Aloslems  throughout  the  world 
to  defy  and  to  resist  the  Christian  Powers.  For  several 
years  back  the  Malumat  and  the  Serz'et,  two  good  and 
cheap  illustrated  papers  published  in  Constantinople,  have 
carried  on  a  crusade  against  all  Christian  nations  that  rule 
^Mohammedans.  In  India,  in  Africa,  in  the  Malay  archi- 
pelago, the  faithful  are  exhorted  to  hold  themselves  in 
readiness  for  the  coming  conflict.  These  papers  and 
others  like  them,  as  El  Moeyid,  at  Cairo,  take  pains  to 
publish  all  real  or  alleged  cases  of  oppression  practiced 
upon  the  followers  of  Alohammed.  The  Dutch  Govern- 
ment once  prohibited  the  Malumat,  but  thousands  of 
copies  are  still  smuggled  into  the  colonies.  Associations 
bearing  the  name  Fan-Islamic  are  said  to  exist  in  Lon- 
don, Faris,  Geneva,  the  United  States  and  other  foreign 
countries.  How  far  their  organization  is  developed  in 
Moslem  lands  is  uncertain,  but  there  are  a  dozen  publi- 
cations devoted  to  their  propaganda,  six  of  these  appear- 
ing in  Cairo.^ 

A  masterly  statement  of  the  real  aims  and  character  of 
Pan-Islamism  is  found  in  Lord  Cromer's  report  for 
igo6."  After  giving  an  account  of  the  relation  of 
Egyptian  Nationalism  to  this  movement  he  defines 
its    character    thus:      'Tn    the    first    place    it    means    in 

^Quoted    in  The  Church  Missionary  Gleaner,  1906. 

*See  article  on  "Pan-Islam,"  by  Archibald  R.  Colquhoun,  in  North  Amer- 
ican Review,  June,   1906,  915. 

^''Finances,  Administration  and  Condition  of  Egypt  and  the  Soudan  in 
1906." 


2^S  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

Egypt  more  or  less  complete  subserviency  to  the  Sul- 
tan. ...  In  the  second  place,  Pan-Islamism  almost 
necessarily  connotes  a  recrudescence  of  racial  and  re- 
ligious animosity.  Many  of  its  adherents  are,  I  do  not 
doubt,  inspired  by  genuine  religious  fervor.  Others, 
again,  whether  from  indifference  verging  on  agnosticism, 
or  from  political  and  opportunist  motives,  or — as  I  trust 
may  sometimes  be  the  case — from  having  really  assimi- 
lated modern  ideas  on  the  subject  of  religious  toleration, 
would  be  willing,  were  such  a  course  possible,  to  sepa- 
rate the  political  from  the  religious,  and  even  possibly 
from  the  racial  issues.  If  such  are  their  wishes  and  in- 
tentions, I  entertain  very  little  doubt  that  they  will  make 
them  impossible  of  execution.  Unless  they  can  convince 
the  Moslem  masses  of  their  militant  Islamism,  they  will 
fail  to  arrest  their  attention  or  to  attract  their  sympathy. 
Appeals,  either  overt  or  covert,  to  racial  and  religious 
passions  are  thus  a  necessity  of  their  existence  in  order 
to  insure  the  furtherance  of  their  political  programme. 

*'In  the  third  place,  Pan-Islamism  almost  necessarily 
connotes  an  attempt  to  regenerate  Islam  on  Islamic  lines 
— in  other  words,  to  revivify  and  stereotype  in  the  twen- 
tieth century  the  principles  laid  down  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years  ago  for  the  guidance  of  a  primitive  society. 
Those  principles  involve  a  recognition  of  slavery,  laws 
regulating  the  relations  of  the  sexes  which  clash  with 
modern  ideas,  and,  which  is  perhaps  more  important  than 
all,  that  crystallization  of  the  civil,  criminal  and  canonical 
law  into  one  immutable  whole,  which  has  so  largely  con- 
tributed to  arrest  the  progress  of  those  countries  whose 
populations  have  embraced  the  Moslem  faith. "^ 

^Quoted   in  article   on   "Egyptian   Nationalism,"   in      The   London    Times, 
Thursday,  April  4,  1907. 


THE    PROBLEM    AND   THE    PERIL  239 

So  well  agreed  are  the  statesmen  of  Europe  in  regard 
to  the  power  of  this  movement  for  evil  that  Mr.  Carl 
Peters,  the  well-known  African  traveler,  writing  on  the 
political  ascendancy  of  Germany,  used  these  significant, 
though  rash,  words : 

"There  is  one  factor  which  might  fall  on  our  side  of 
the  balance  and  in  the  case  of  a  world-war  might  be  made 
useful  to  us:  that  factor  is,  Islam.  As  Pan-Islamism  it 
could  be  played  against  Great  Britain  as  well  as  against 
the  French  Republic ;  and  if  German  policy  is  bold 
enough,  it  can  fashion  the  dynamite  to  blow  into  the  air 
the  rule  of  the  Western  Powers  from  Cape  Nun  (Mo- 
rocco) to  Calcutta."^ 

Remembering  the  career  of  Abd  ul  Wahab  in  Arabia 
and  of  the  IMahdi  at  Khartoum,  and  knowing  the  present 
activity  of  the  Senusi  Derwish  orders,  the  Pan-Islamites 
must  not  be  too  sure  that  the  spirit  they  are  evoking  in 
the  Dark  Continent  among  savage  tribes  is  one  that  will 
remain  under  their  control !  Lord  Cromer  may  be  right 
when  he  says,  'T  am  sceptical  of  Pan-Islamism  producing 
any  more  serious  results  than  sporadic  outbursts  of  fanat- 
icism.''^ And  yet  there  are  latent  forces  in  Islam  be- 
cause of  its  very  character  and  historic  ideals  that  once 
let  loose  may  work  in  a  similar  way,  as  they  did  under 
Khalid,  *'The  Sword  of  God."  We  must  evangelize  the 
Mohammedan  world  for  the  sake  of  Christendom.  Lord 
Cromer  goes  on  to  say :  "I  am  quite  confident  of  the 
power  of  Europe,  should  the  necessity  arise,  to  deal  eflfec- 
tively  with  the  material,  though  not  with  the  spiritual, 
aspects  of  the  miovement."^ 

'Quoted  in  article  of  Professor  Vambery,  The  Nineteenth  Century,  October, 
1906,  553- 
'The  London  Times,  April  4,  1907. 
3Ibid. 


240  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

The  Church  of  Christ  must  deal  with  its  spiritual  as- 
pects. We  must  meet  Pan-Islamism  with  pan-evangelism. 
"It  is  a  fight  for  life.  We  have  got  to  conquer  them  or 
they  will  conquer  us,"  so  said  Dr.  George  E.  Post,  of 
Beirut  College,  at  the  Centenary  Missionary  Conference. 
"There  are  unknown  possibilities  in  that  great  continent. 
Who  knows  what  the  forces  of  Central  Asia  may  yet  be, 
stored  up  for  the  future  ?  Hear  the  parable  of  the  locusts. 
When  the  locust  appears  in  the  desert  he  is  at  home. 
He  is  contented  usually  with  its  barrenness.  He  lays 
his  eggs  in  the  sand.  He  hatches  his  young  and  they 
eat  the  bitter  and  unpalatable  herbs  that  grow  in  the  few 
moist  spots  of  the  wilderness ;  but,  at  certain  times,  under 
the  influence  of  unknown  causes  which  science  cannot 
fathom,  these  locusts  take  upon  them  to  fly  over  the  culti- 
vated fields  and  the  fair  provinces  of  the  Empire.  At 
such  a  time  there  is  nothing  for  the  farmer  to  do  but  to 
go  out  and  find  the  places  where  they  have  laid  their  eggs 
in  the  soil.  They  dig  a  hole  a  few  inches  in  depth  and 
they  deposit  a  bag  containing  over  a  hundred  eggs.  Every 
Ggg  is  a  locust  and  every  locust  can  produce  one  hundred 
eggs,  and  these  locusts  sweep  like  a  devouring  prairie- 
fire  all  over  the  country,  leaving  nothing  but  dead  vegeta- 
tion and  wailing  men  behind  them.  We  must  go  dozvn 
to  the  locust's  home ;  zve  must  go  into  Arabia;  zve  must 
go  into  the  Soudan;  zve  must  go  into  Central  Asia;  and 
we  must  Christianize  these  people  or  they  zvill  march 
over  their  deserts,  and  they  zvill  sweep  like  a  Hre  that 
shall  devour  our  Christianity  and  destroy  it."^ 

^"Report    of    the    Centenary    Conference    on    the    Protestant    Missions    of 
the  World,  held  in  London,  1888,"  Vol.  I,  323. 


A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH 


"Until  the  present  century  very  little  systematic  effort  seems 
to  have  been  made.  As  regards  the  work  of  the  present  century 
there  have  been  the  efforts  of  magnificent  pioneers,  but  we  need 
something  more.'" — Report  of  Lambeth  Conference  on  Work  for 
Mohammedans   (1897). 

"We  should  lay  siege  to  the  Port  Arthurs  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian world  with  the  undiscourageable  purpose  to  capture  them. 
We  should  not  shrink  or  falter  before  such  apparently  impregna- 
ble fortresses  as  the  Mohammedan  world." — John  R.  Mott,  in 
address  at  Student  Volunteer  Convention,  Nashville,  1906. 

"The  Church  must  awake  to  her  duty  toward  Islam.  Who 
will  wake  her  and  keep  her  awake  unless  it  be  those  who  have 
heard  the  challenge  of  Islam,  and  who,  going  out  against  her, 
have  found  her  armor  decayed,  her  weapons  antiquated  and  her 
children,  though  proud  and  reticent,  still  unhappy?" — Robert  E. 
Speer,  at  the  Cairo  Conference. 

"Perhaps  the  Church  of  God  has  too  long  tried  to  win  the 
day  by  policy  and  state-craft — and  perhaps  a  little  more  ham- 
mer and  tongs,  reckless,  defiant,  uncalculating  faith  would  be 
consummate  state-craft." — John  Van  Ess,  missionary  in  Arabia. 


XII 

A  CHALLENGE  TO  FAITH 

I 
Unprecedented  Opportunities. — The  problem  and  the 

peril  of  Islam  are  a  twofold  challenge  to  faith,  and  not 
a  cause  for  discouragement.  Those  who  have  tried  to 
reach  Mohammedans  with  the  Gospel  message  and  who 
are  in  the  forefront  of  the  fight,  do  not  call  for  retreat, 
but  for  reinforcements  and  advance.  They  know  that 
in  this  mighty  conflict  we  have  nothing  to  fear  save  our 
own  sloth  and  inactivity.  The  battle  is  the  Lord's  and 
the  victory  will  be  His  also.  The  love  of  Jesus  Christ, 
manifested  in  hospitals,  in  schools,  in  tactful  preaching, 
and  incarnated  in  the  lives  of  devoted  missionaries,  will 
irresistibly  win  Moslems  and  disarm  all  their  fanaticism. 
It  has  done  so,  is  doing  so,  and  will  do  so  more  and  more 
when  the  church  realizes  and  seizes  her  unprecedented 
opportunities  in  the  IMoslem  world.  "Altogether  the  sit- 
uation as  regards  work  among  Mohammedans,"  says  Dr. 
Rouse,  the  veteran  missionary  of  Bengal,  *'is  most  in- 
teresting and  encouraging.  It  would  be  much  more  so  if  I 
saw  any  sign  of  appreciation  on  the  part  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  of  the  special  opportunities  for  missionary  work 
among  Mohammedans  which  are  now  to  be  found  in  all 
India  and  elsewhere.  Why  should  we  not  attack  vigor- 
ously when  the  enemy  is  beginning  to  waver  ?"^ 

^''Students    and    the    Modern    Missionary    Crusade,"    Addresses    given    at 
Student  Volunteer  Convention,  Nashville.   457,  458. 

243 


244  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

The  present  political  division  of  the  Mohammedan 
world  is  a  startling  challenge  of  opportunity.  When  we 
remember  Lord  Curzon's  remark  that  "the  Mohammedan 
conception  of  politics  is  not  so  much  that  of  a  state- 
church  as  of  a  church-state,"^  and  recall  what  we  have 
read  of  the  political  power  of  Islam  in  the  past,  we  realize 
how  great  has  been  the  change  in  a  single  century.  The 
map  (page  56)  shows  us  how  the  area  of  the  present 
Caliphate  has  dwindled  to  smaller  proportions  than  it 
was  at  the  time  of  Mohammed's  death.  Over  one-half 
of  the  Moslem  world  is  now  under  Christian  rule  or 
protection.  Christian  rule  has  not  always  been  favor- 
able for  the  spread  of  Christianity,  yet  it  means 
generally  a  free  press,  free  speech  and  liberty  to  con- 
fess Christ.  Purely  Mohammedan  rule  means  an  en- 
slaved press,  no  freedom  of  speech  and  death  for  the 
apostate  from  Islam..  The  keys  to  every  gateway  in 
the  Moslem  world  are  in  the  political  grasp  of  Chris- 
tian powers,  with  the  exception  of  Mecca  and  Constan- 
tinople. 

Distances  and  dangers  have  become  less,  so  that  the 
journey  from  London  to  Bagdad  can  now  be  accom- 
plished with  less  hardship  and  in  less  time  than  it  must 
have  taken  Lull  to  go  from  Paris  to  Bugia.  Henry 
Martyn  spent  five  long  months  to  reach  Shiraz  from  Cal- 
cutta ;  the  same  journey  can  now  be  made  in  a  fortnight. 
And  without  waiting  for  the  completion  of  the  Mecca 
railway,  a  missionary  could  visit  the  Holy  Cities  as  easily 
as  Lull  did  Tunis,  were  the  same  spirit  of  martyrdom 
alive  among  us  that  inspired  the  pioneer  of  Palma,  and 
were  it  a  wise  thing  to  do  so  now. 

Mindful  of  the  polyglot  character  of  Islam  and  of  the 

^Persia,"  Vol.  I,  509. 


A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH  245 

fact  that  we  have  the  Bible,  at  least  in  part,  in  every 
]\Ioslem  tong-ue,  what  magnificent  opportunities  there  are 
to-day  to  establish,  enlarge  and  endow  mission  presses  in 
the  chief  Moslem  centres  of  learning  and  literature ! 
Those  now  in  existence  are  overtaxed  with  work  and 
supported  in  a  half-hearted  fashion.  They  clamor  for 
men  and  means  to  meet  the  demand  for  books  on  the 
part  of  Mohammedans.  Who  can  estimate  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  Beirut  press,  or  the  Nile  mission  press,  for  the 
Arabic-speaking  world  if  either  one  had  a  million  dol- 
lars? In  the  Chinese  language  there  is  a  large  Mohamme- 
dan literature,  but  only  three  little  pamphlets  have  been 
published  so  far  that  are  specially  adapted  to  the  thirty 
million  Moslems  of  China. ^  Here  is  a  call  for  the  man 
with  literary  tastes  and  talent  for  languages.  Then  there  is 
the  world-wide  opportunity,  even  in  the  most  difficult 
fields,  for  distribution  of  the  Word  of  God  among  Mos- 
lems by  colporteurs  and  missionaries.  Not  without  reason 
does  the  Koran  always  speak  of  Christians  as  *'the  people 
of  the  Book.''  Ours  is  the  opportunity  to  prove  it  by  carry- 
ing tJic  Book  to  every  Moslem  in  the  world.  W^e  can  safe- 
ly leave  the  verdict  on  the  Book  to  the  Moslem  himself. 
Last  year  there  were  issued  from  the  Christian  presses  at 
Constantinople  and  Beirut,  in  languages  read  by  Moham- 
medans, over  fifty  million  pages  of  Christian  literature, 
and  these  books  are  not  printed  for  free  distribution,  but 
for  sale.^  The  demand  for  Christian  literature  is  every- 
where on  the  increase.  I  have  myself  received  an  order 
by  mail  at  Bahrein  from  a  INIoslem  at  Mecca  for  an 
Arabic  reference  Bible  and  a  concordance,  and  from  the 

^"Literature  for  Moslems,"  92,  in  "Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among 
Moslems."     (1907.) 

-James  L.  Barton,  in  "Students  and  the  Modern  Missionary  Crusade," 
442. 


246  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

Beirut  Press  they  have  sent  Arabic  Scriptures  to  the 
Moslems  of  China. 

The  opportunities  for  medical  mission  work  among 
Moslems  are  very  great,  because  there  is  a  demand  for 
missionary  physicians  on  the  part  of  Aloslems  them- 
selves, and  of  all  the  methods  adopted  by  Christian  mis- 
sions in  Moslem  lands  none  have  been  more  successful  in 
breaking  down  prejudices  and  bringing  large  numbers 
of  people  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel.  The  work  at 
Sheikh  Othman,  Busrah  and  Bahrein,  in  Arabia ;  at 
Ouetta,  in  Baluchistan,  and  at  Tanta,  in  Egypt,  are  ex- 
amples. Regarding  the  latter  place,  Doctor  Anna  Wat- 
son reports  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  cases  treated  are 
Moslem  women,  who  come  from  villages  scattered  far 
and  wide,  untouched  by  any  other  missionary  agency.^ 
The  medical  missionary  carries  a  passport  of  mercy 
which  will  gain  admission  for  the  truth  everywhere.  All 
of  the  vast  yet  unoccupied  territory  in  the  Mohammedan 
world  is  waiting  for  the  pioneer  medical  missionary,  man 
or  vvoman. 

In  many  Moslem  lands  there  are  unprecedented  oppor- 
tunities for  educational  work.  The  spread  of  the  New 
Islam,  the  increase  of  journalism,  the  political  ambitions 
of  Pan-Islamism,  and  the  march  of  civilization  are  all 
uniting  to  produce  a  desire  for  higher  education.  Yet 
while  there  are  seven  American  mission  colleges  in  the 
Turkish  empire,  not  including  Egypt,  Persia,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  ten  million,  has  not  a  single  missionary  college.'-^ 
Mr.  Jordan  writes : 

''For   some   years   past   the   Persian   Government   has 

^"Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among  Moslems,"  109. 

^S.  M.  Jordan,  "An  Unprecedented  Opportunity:  Wanted,  a  College 
for  Persia";  a  pamphlet.  (Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,   1906.) 


A  CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH  247 

been  growing  liberal  and  is  now  seeking  to  introduce  free 
institutions.  The  intelligent  classes  believe  that  consti- 
tutional government  and  Western  education  will  do  for 
Persia  what  they  have  done  for  Japan  in  the  past  forty 
years.  Education  has  become  almost  a  fad,  and  the  Shah 
professes  to  be  the  leader  in  the  movement.  They  have 
opened  elementary  schools  for  themselves  and  are  seeking 
help  from  every  source.  Last  year  they  brought  out  five 
French  professors  to  teach  in  the  Imperial  College  in 
Teheran.  What  that  institution  amounts  to  was  well 
summed  up  by  one  of  these  teachers,  who  replied  to  my 
inquiry  for  its  welfare :  'Oh,  it  is  half  a  pity  and  half  a 
farce.'  Some  time  ago  a  son-in-law  of  the  Shah  re- 
marked to  one  of  our  missionaries :  'Why  do  not  you 
Americans  build  a  college  in  Teheran  where  w^e  Persians 
can  educate  our  sons?' 

'T  believe  that  the  world  has  never  seen  a  greater 
opportunity  to  influence  a  nation  at  its  very  centre  and 
help  it  on  the  upward  path  than  is  presented  to  us  in  the 
Persian  capital.  It  is  one  of  the  world's  strategic  points. 
Shall  we  not  occupy  it  with  an  institution  that  will  be  a 
source  of  light  and  civilization  and  moral  uplift  for  the 
whole  country?" 

Persia  is  only  a  typical  case.  There  are  other  Moslem 
lands  that  are  struggling  upward,  in  spite  of  Islam, 
toward  a  constitutional  government  and  free  institutions. 
The  addresses  made  by  the  Ameer  of  Afghanistan  on  his 
recent  visit  in  India  were  a  plain  indication  of  an  intel- 
lectual daybreak,  even  beyond  the  Himalayas.  And  what 
an  opportunity  there  must  be  in  India  for  the  ordinary 
day-school  when  the  census  returns  tell  us  that  ninety- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  Mohammedans  of  that  country  are 
illiterate  1 


248  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Tlie  disintegration  of  Islam  and  the  present  crisis  em- 
phasize these  unprecedented  opportunities.  From  every 
quarter  comes  the  testimony  that  the  attitude  of  Moslems 
generally  toward  Christianity  has  changed  for  the  better 
in  the  past  decade,  in  spite  of  the  frantic  efforts  of  their 
political  and  religious  leaders  to  bring  about  a  reaction.^ 

In  India  Islam  has  abandoned,  as  untenable,  controver- 
sial positions  which  were  once  thought  impregnable.  In- 
stead of  denying  the  integrity  of  the  Bible  and  forbidding 
its  use,  they  now  read  it  and  write  commentaries  on  it. 
Mighty  and  irresistible  forces  are  at  work  in  Islam  itself 
to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Gospel.  Thousands  of  Mos- 
lems have  grow^n  dissatisfied  with  their  old  faith,  and  of 
tens  of  thousands  it  is  true  that  they  are  hungering  for  a 
living  Mediator.  The  Babis,  the  Beha'is,  the  Shathalis, 
the  Sufis,  are  all  examples  of  this  unconscious  search  for 
our  Redeemer,  whom  Mohammed  and  the  Koran  have  so 
long  eclipsed. 

"Far  and  wide,  though  all  unknowing, 
Pants  for  Thee  each  human  breast; 
Human  tears  for  Thee  are  flowing, 
Human  hearts  in  Thee  would  rest." 

The  Cairo  Conference. — The  thought  of  a  world's  con- 
ference to  discuss  the  problems  of  Moslem  evangelization 
had,  no  doubt,  often  occurred  to  more  than  one  mis- 
sionary at  the  front;  especially  ever  since  Dr.  H.  H. 
Jessup  gave  the  Church  an  outline  of  the  problem  in 
1879.^  Yet  missionaries  felt  that  at  none  of  the  great 
general  missionary  conferences  since  that  time  had  Islam 
received  such  breadth  of  treatment  and  careful  attention 

^See  "The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day";  also  Tables  on  284  and  294, 
column  S. 
2"The   Mohammedan   Missionary   Problem."     (Philadelphia,    1879.) 


A   CHALLENGE   TO    FAITH  249 

as  the  subject  and  the  crisis  demanded.  Therefore,  after 
much  consultation  with  missionaries  in  every  Moham- 
medan land  and  with  missionary  authorities  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  the  Arabian  Mission,  in  1904,  opened  cor- 
respondence with  the  missions  in  Egypt,  and  steps  were 
taken  to  hold  a  General  Conference  on  behalf  of  the 
Mohammedan  world  at  Cairo.  The  conference  met  from 
April  4th  to  9th,  1906,  and  marked  a  forward  step  in 
missions.  The  presence  of  sixty-two  representatives 
from  twenty-nine  missionary  societies  in  Europe  and 
America,  with  nearly  an  equal  number  of  missionary 
visitors ;  the  manifest  unanimity  of  spirit  in  all  the  dis- 
cussions ;  the  printed  proceedings  of  the  conference, 
which  for  the  first  time  in  history  give  a  survey  of  the 
field ;  and  the  deeply  spiritual  character  of  the  gathering 
— all  these  lead  to  the  hope  that  this  conference  will  be 
used  of  God  as  a  means  of  arousing  the  Christian  Church 
to  more  energetic  and  systematic  effort  for  the  millions 
of  Islam.  The  papers  read  at  the  conference  were  in 
part  published  under  the  title,  *'The  Mohammedan  World 
of  To-day,"  and  in  part,  for  prudential  reasons,  only 
printed  for  private  circulation.^  An  appeal  by  the  con- 
ference was  sent  out  to  the  Church  at  large,  and  is  itself 
a  challenge  to  faith,  coming  as  it  does  from  men  and 
women  who  have  given  of  their  strength  and  their 
service,  their  love  and  their  life,  to  evangelize  these  Mo- 
hammedan lands.     It  speaks  for  itself : 

"The  great  needs  of  more  than  two  hundred  million 
Mohammedans  and  the  present  problems  of  work  among 
them,   laid   upon   the   hearts   of   missionaries   in   several 

^''Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among  Moslems."     Papers  read  at  the  Cairo 
Conference.    Privately  printed  for  the  use  of  missionaries. 


250  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

countries,  led  to  the  assembling  of  this  conference  of 
delegates  from  missions  in  Moslem  lands,  which  has  been 
sitting-  at  Cairo  from  the  4th  to  the  9th  April,  1906. 

''We  have  been  presented  with  a  series  of  comprehen- 
sive reviews  of  the  whole  Mohammedan  world,  of  its 
ethnic,  social,  religious  and  intellectual  conditions,  of 
missionary  work  thus  far  accomplished,  and  of  the  tasks 
and  problems  still  presented  by  it  to  the  Christian 
Church ;  we  have  considered,  though  too  briefly,  some  of 
the  chief  methods  of  missionary  work  among  Moham- 
medans, in  preaching,  literature,  medicine,  and  upbuild- 
ing of  converts. 

'These  outstanding  facts  as  to  the  great  needs  of  the 
Mohammedan  world,  the  first-fruits  of  its  evangelization, 
and  the  openings  for  a  great  advance  in  bringing  the 
Gospel  to  Moslems,  have  been  borne  in  upon  us  as  a 
strong  call  from  God  to  His  Church  in  the  present  day. 
Coming  from  many  Mohammedan  and  Christian  lands, 
and  dealing  with  varied  aspects  of  Islam,  we  unitedly 
and  urgently  call  upon  the  Christian  Church,  as  repre- 
sented by  her  missionary  agencies,  for  a  fresh  departure 
in  the  energy  and  effectiveness  of  her  work  among  Mo- 
hammedans. We  ask  that  it  may  be  strengthened  and 
promoted  (i)  by  setting  apart  more  special  laborers  and 
by  giving  them  a  specialized  training;  (2)  by  organizing 
more  efficiently  the  production  and  distribution  of  litera- 
ture for  Mohammedans;  (3)  by  systematic  common  ar- 
rangements for  the  fresh  occupation  of  important  centres, 
and  the  more  effective  working  of  those  already  occupied, 
and  for  forestalling  the  entrance  of  Islam  into  territories 
so  far  pagan.  With  this  view  we  draw  the  attention  of 
the  Committees  and  Boards  to  the  volume  under  publica- 
tion, embodying  the  surveys  presented  to  the  conference, 


A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH  25 1 

and  we  suggest  that  action  on  this  basis  be  considered  by 
the  meetings  held  in  each  country  for  interdenominational 
missionary  action. 

*God  wills  it, 
May  He  enable  us  to  do  His  will.'"^ 

The  women  delegates  also  published  an  additional  ap- 
peal, which  reads : 

"We,  the  women  missionaries  assembled  at  the  Cairo 
Conference,  would  send  this  appeal  on  behalf  of  the 
women  of  Moslem  lands  to  all  our  sisters  in  the  home 
churches  of  Great  Britain,  America,  Canada,  France, 
Germany,  Switzerland,  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  Hol- 
land, Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

"While  we  have  heard  with  deep  thankfulness  of  many 
signs  of  God's  blessing  on  the  efforts  already  put  forth, 
yet  we  have  been  appalled  at  the  reports  which  have  been 
sent  in  to  the  conference  from  all  parts  of  the  Moslem 
world,  showing  us  only  too  clearly  that  as  yet  but  a  fringe 
of  this  great  work  has  been  touched.  Our  hearts  have 
been  wrung  as  we  have  listened  to  statements  after  state- 
ments of  sin  and  oppression,  and  have  realized  something 
more  of  the  almost  unrelieved  darkness  which  reigns  in 
the  lives  of  our  Moslem  sisters. 

"First — Through  her  physical  sufferings,  such  as 
spring    from    the    evils    of    child    marriage;    the    unre- 

^The  appeal  was  signed,  on  behalf  of  the  Conference,  by  the  executive 
committee,  as  follows: 

John  Giflfen,  D.D.  (U.  P.  of  N.  A.);  H.  H.  Jessup,  D.D.  (Am.  Pres.) ; 
Milton  H.  Marshall  (N.  Africa);  Dr.  J.  S.  Tympany  (Am.  Baptist);  Rev. 
D.  M.  Thornton,  M.A.  (C.M.S.) ;  Bishop  F.  W.  Warne  (M.  Episcopal, 
U.S.A.);  E.  M.  Wherry,  D.D.  (Am.  Pres.);  H.  U.  Weitbrecht,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 
(C.M.S.) ;  Rev.  F.  Wiirz  (Basel  Ev.  Miss.);  S.  M.  Zwemer,  D.D.  (Ref.  Ch. 
in  Arabia).     Representing  twenty-nine  missionary  societies. 


252  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

Strained  power  of  the  men  of  the  family,  whether  father, 
brother,  husband  or  son,  to  beat  and  abuse  her ;  her  pow- 
erlessness  to  escape  or  plead  her  own  cause;  her  use  of 
narcotics  and  stimulants  not  to  be  wondered  at,  to  drown 
her  misery. 

"Second — Her  mental  sufferings,  from  ignorance  and 
a  sense  of  inferiority  and  degradation,  from  the  continual 
fear  of  being  divorced ;  her  fear  of  unseen  powers  of  evil, 
and  of  death  and  the  hereafter ;  her  lack  of  real  love ;  the 
absence  of  true  family  life,  which  blights  the  home  of 
both  parents  and  children;  and  her  suffering  from  the 
jealousy  which  is  inseparable  from  polygamy. 

"Third — Her  spiritual  suffering  and  anguish  of  mind, 
without  comfort  in  the  thought  of  God,  Who  is  to  her 
only  a  hard  master.  Whose  injustice  she  unconsciously 
resents. 

"We  feel  that  an  outcry  against  the  cruelty  and  injus- 
tice of  men  is  not  the  way  to  meet  these  evils.  There  is 
no  remedy  but  to  bring  the  women  to  the  Lord  Jesus, 
Who  died  to  save  them  from  the  curse  pronounced  upon 
them  as  a  punishment  for  sin.  We  must  teach  her  by 
love  to  win  her  husband's  love,  and  by  deserving  it  to  win 
his  respect,  believing  that  God  has  given  to  every  man 
the  capacity  to  love  his  wife. 

"The  number  of  Moslem  women  is  so  vast — not  less 
than  one  hundred  million — that  any  adequate  effort  to 
meet  the  need  must  be  on  a  scale  far  wider  than  has  ever 
yet  been  attempted. 

"We  do  not  suggest  new  organizations,  but  that  every 
church  and  board  of  missions  at  present  working  in  Mos- 
lem lands  should  take  up  their  own  women's  branch  of 
the  work  with  an  altogether  new  ideal  before  them,  de- 
termining to  reach  the  whole  world  of  Moslem  women 


A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH  253 

in  this  generation.  Eacli  part  of  the  women's  work  being 
already  carried  on  needs  to  be  widely  extended — trained 
and  consecrated  women  doctors,  trained  and  consecrated 
women  teachers,  groups  of  women  workers  in  the  vil- 
lages, an  army  of  those  with  love  in  their  hearts,  to  seek 
and  save  the  lost.  And  with  the  willingness  to  take  up 
this  burden,  so  long  neglected,  for  the  salvation  of  Mo- 
hammedan women,  even  though  it  may  prove  a  very 
Cross  of  Calvary  to  some  of  us,  we  shall  hear  our  Mas- 
ter's voice  afresh,  with  ringing  words  of  encouragement : 
'Have  faith  in  God.'  'For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  that 
whosoever  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  ''Be  thou  re- 
moved," and  "Be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,"  and  shall  not 
doubt  in  his  heart,  but  shall  believe  that  these  things 
which  He  saith  shall  come  to  pass,  he  shall  have  whatso- 
ever he  saith.'     'Nothing  shall  be  impossible  to  you.'  " 

The  Challenge.— Thtse  urgent  appeals  from  living  mis- 
sionaries who  form  the  long,  thin  line  on  the  forefront  of 
battle  against  Islam  must  not  fall  on  deaf  ears.  They 
are  a  challenge  to  faith  and  to  sacrifice.  They  are  a  call 
for  immediate  reinforcements,  for  more  laborers  and  for 
more  efficient  preparation  in  those  sent  out.  To  deal 
effectively  with  a  community  professing  the  religion  of 
the  Koran  and  guided  by  its  highly  systematized  theology, 
it  should  go  without  saying  that  we  need  a  body  of  men 
in  each  mission  area  possessing  a  competent  knowledge 
of  Arabic  and  Moslem  theology,  while  the  rank  and  file 
should  have  a  correct  acquaintance  with  the  doctrines, 
duties,  facts  and  customary  terminology  of  Islam. ^ 

Even  in  India,  according  to  the  Bishop  of  Lahore, 
there  is  "a  widespread  absence  of  real  acquaintance  with 

^H.  U.  Weitbrecht,  in  The  Church  Missionary  Intelligencer,  June,  1906. 


254  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

the  Mohammedan  literature"  on  the  part  of  missionaries 
who  Hve  and  labor  among  Moslems.  *'Not  infrequently 
during  my  years  in  Delhi,"  he  writes,  "when  I  wanted 
to  refer  to  some  tradition  which  I  knew  existed  in  one 
of  the  well-known  collections,  it  was  a  cause  of  real  pain 
to  me — and,  as  I  thought,  a  reproach  to  the  missionary 
cause — that  there  was  scarcely  a  single  missionary,  so  far 
as  I  knew,  in  upper  India  to  whom  I  could  turn  for  the 
needed  reference — not  more  than  two  or  three,  indeed,  in 
the  whole  of  India,  and  to  them  I  sometimes  turned  in 
vain.    Surely  this  reproach  ought  to  be  wiped  away."^ 

For  the  evangelization  of  the  Mohammedan  world  we 
need,  first  and  most  of  all  men,  *'the  best  men  the 
Church  can  afford — men  who,  in  the  spirit  of  Henry 
Martyn,  Isidor  Loewenthal,  Ion  Keith-Falconer,  Bishop 
French,  Peter  Zwemer,  and  many  others  gone  to  their 
reward,  hold  not  their  lives  dear;  men  who  carry  the 
burden  of  these  millions  of  Moslems  upon  their  hearts, 
and,  with  Abraham  of  old,  cry  out :  'O  that  Ishmael  might 
live  before  thee!"-  For  in  the  last  analysis  the  evange- 
lization of  the  Mohammedan  world  depends,  under  God, 
on  a  band  of  picked  volunteers  prepared  to  do  pioneer 
work  and  ready  to  sacrifice  life  itself,  if  need  be,  to  enter 
and  occupy  Moslem  lands.     The  call  is  for  volunteers. 

The  missionary  boards  and  societies  are  taking  up  the 
challenge  of  Islam  ;^  will  the  colleges  and  universities 
furnish  the  men  for  the  work  to-day?  The  time  is  ripe 
for  a  world-wide  spiritual  crusade  for  the  conquest  of 
Islam.     The  prophetic  dreams  of  Raymund  Lull  and  of 

^G.  A.  LeFroy,  "The  Preparation  of  \Vorkers  for  Work  Among  Mos- 
lems," in  "Methods  of  Mission  Work  Among  Moslems,"  223,  224. 

^Introduction  to  "Islam  and  Christianity  in  India." 

^See  J.  L.  Earton's  address  at  the  Haystack  Centennial  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  289-296;  also  Report  of  the 
Conference  of  Mission  Boards  Secretaries,   1907. 


A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH  255 

Henry  Martyn  await  fulfillment.  The  new  century  of 
American  foreign  missions  calls  for  a  new  vision  of  the 
Moslem  world  in  its  strength,  its  weakness,  its  needs,  its 
accessibility,  its  promise,  as  well  as  in  its  antagonism, 
to  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  'Tather,  the  hour  is  come, 
glorify  Thy  Son."  Christ's  rightful  glory  has  been  given 
to  Mohammed  for  many  ages  in  these  many  lands  and  in 
millions  of  hearts.  Surely  our  Saviour  Himself  is  wait- 
ing to  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  for  the  Moslem  world. 
God  wills  it.  That  was  the  battle-cry  of  the  old  Cru- 
saders. Yet  there  was  a  thousandfold  more  enthusiasm 
in  the  dark  ages  to  wrest  an  empty  sepulchre  from  the 
Saracens  than  there  is  in  our  day  to  bring  them  the 
knowledge  of  a  living  Saviour.  Shall  we  take  up  that 
cry  in  a  nobler  crusade  with  the  sword  of  the  spirit? 

Where  Christ  was  born  Mohammed's  name  is  called 
from  minarets  five  times  daily,  but  where  Mohammed 
was  born  no  Christian  dares  to  enter. 

America  entertained  perverts  to  Islam  at  a  Parliament 
of  Religions,  while  throughout  vast  regions  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan world  millions  of  Moslems  have  never  so 
much  as  heard  of  the  incarnation  and  the  atonement  of 
the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  Holy 
Land  is  still  in  unholy  hands,  and  all  Christendom  stood 
gazing  while  the  sword  of  the  Crescent  was  uplifted  in 
Armenia  and  Crete,  until  the  uttermost  confines  of  the 
Moslem  world  rejoiced  at  her  apathy  and  impotence. 

Is  this  to  be  the  measure  of  our  consecration?  Is  this 
the  extent  of  our  loyal  devotion  to  the  cause  of  our  King  ? 
His  place  occupied  by  a  usurper  and  His  glory  given  to 
another.  Shall  we  not  arise  and  win  back  the  lost  king- 
dom? Missions  to  Moslems  are  the  only  Christian  solu- 
tion of  the  Eastern  question.    God  wills  it.    Let  our  rally- 


256  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

ing  cry  be :  ''Every  stronghold  of  Islam  for  Christ!"  Not 
a  war  of  gunboats,  or  of  diplomacy,  but  a  Holy  War 
with  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God. 
Let  God  arise  and  let  His  enemies  be  scattered. 

God  wills  it ;  therefore  we  must  do  it.  God  wills  it ; 
therefore  He  will  accomplish  it.  God  wills  it;  therefore 
we  will  ask  Him  to  do  it  speedily :  "Thy  Kingdom  come ; 
Thy  will  be  done,"  throughout  the  Mohammedan  world. 

"Not  in  dumb  resignation 

We  lift  our  hands  on  high, 
Not  like  the  nerveless  fatalist, 

Content  to  trust  and  die; 
Our  faith  springs  like  the  eagle 

That  soars  to  meet  the  sun, 
And  cries  exulting  unto  Thee : 

O  Lord!    Thy  will  be  done!" 

If  Islam  is  a  challenge  to  faith,  faith  alone  can  accept 
the  challenge,  and  does.  "For  whatsoever  is  born  of 
God  overcometh  the  world;  and  this  is  the  victory  that 
overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith.  Who  is  he  that 
overcometh  the  world  but  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is 
the  Son  of  God?" 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX   A 

CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLE    OF    IMPORTANT 

EVENTS   IN  THE   HISTORY  OF   ISLAM 

AND  OF  MISSIONS  TO  MOSLEMS 

"Facts  are  the  fingers  of  God. 

— Dr.  A.  T.  Pier  son. 

A.  D.  ISLAM  A.  D.  MISSIONS 

570.  Birth  of  Mohammed  at  Mecca. 

595.  Yemen  passes  under  Persian 
rule. 

610.  Mohammed  begins  his  pro- 
phetic   career. 

622.  The  Hegira,  or  flight  of  Mo- 
hammed from  Mecca  to  Me- 
dina   (A.H.    i). 

62Z.  Battle  of  Bedr. 

624.  Battle   of   Ohod. 

628.  Reputed  mission  of  Abu  Kab- 
sha   to    China. 

630.  Mecca  entered  and  conquered. 

632.  Death  of  Mohammed.  Abu 
Bekr,   first    Caliph. 

634.  Omar,  Caliph;  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians  expelled   from   Arabia. 

636.  Capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Caliph   Omar. 

62,7-  Conquest   of   Syria. 

638.  Kufa    and   Busrah   founded. 

640.  Capture  of  Alexandria  by- 
Omar. 

642.  Conquest    of   Persia. 

644.  Othman,    Caliph. 

661.  Ali  assassinated.  Hassan  be- 
comes   Caliph. 

662-750.  Omayid  caliphs  at  Damas- 
cus. 

710-1492.  Mohammedan  rule  in 
Spain. 

711.  Tarik  crosses  the  straits  from 
Africa  to  Europe,  and  calls 
the  mountain  Jebel  Tarik  = 
Gibraltar. 

711.  Mohammed  Kasim  overruns 
Sindh  (India)  in  the  name  of 
Walid  I  of  Damascus. 

732.  Battle  of  Tours.  Europe  saved 
from  Islam. 


26o 


ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 


A.  D.  ISLAM 

742.  First    mosque    built    in    North 

China. 
754.  Mansur. 
756-1258.  Abbasid     caliphs    at    Bag 

dad. 
786.  Haroun    er-Rashid,     Caliph    of 

Bagdad. 
809.  Amin. 
813.  Mamun. 
833.  Motasim.     Islam    spreads    into 

Transoxania. 
847.  Mutawakkel. 
889.  Rise  of  Carmathian  sect. 
930.  Carmathians    take    Mecca    and 

carry  away  the  Black  Stone  to 

Katif. 
1000.  Islam   invades    India  from   the 

North. 
1005.  Preaching  of  Sheikh  Ismail  at 

Lahore,    India. 
1019.  Mahmud   Ghazni,   champion  of 

Islam   in  India. 
1037-1300.  Seljuk  Turks. 
1055.  Togrul   Beg  at   Bagdad. 
1063.  Alp   Arslan,   Saljukian  Turkish 

prince. 
1077.  Timbuctoo   founded.    Islam  en- 
ters Western   Soudan. 
1169-1193.  Saladin. 

1 176-1206.  Mohammed       Ghori       con- 
quers  Bengal. 
1276.  Islam  introduced  into  Malacca, 
1299-1326.  Reign  of  Othman,  founder 

of   Ottoman   dynasty. 
1305.  Preaching  and  spread  of  Islam 

in    the    Deccan. 
1330.  Institution  of  the  Janissaries. 
1353.  First    entrance    of    the    Turks 

into    Europe. 
1369-1405.  Tamerlane. 
1389.  Islam  begins  to  spread  in  Ser- 

via. 
1398.  Tamerlane  invades  India. 
1414.  Conversion     of     the     King     of 

Bengal. 
1450.  Missionary  activity  of  Islam  in 

Java    begins. 
1453.  Capture    of    Constantinople    by 

Mohammed   II. 
1492.  Discovery   of   America.    End   of 

Moslem    rule    in    Spain    by    de- 
feat of  Boabdil  at  Granada. 
1500.  Spread   of    Islam    in    Siberia. 
1507.  The  Portuguese  take  Muscat. 
1517.  Selim    I    conquers    Egypt    and 

wrests      caliphate     from     Arab 

line    of    Koreish    for    Ottoman 

sultans. 
1525-1707.  Mogul  empire  in  India. 
1538.  Suleiman       the       Magnificent 

takes   Aden   by   treachery. 
1540.  Beginning    of    Turkish    rule    in 

Yemen. 
1556.  Akbar   the   Great   rules   in   In* 

dia. 


830.  Abd  el  Messia  Al  Kindy,  a 
Christian,  at  the  Court  of  Al 
Mamun,  writes  his  apology. 


1096- 1272.  The  Crusades. 


1315.  Raymund  Lull,  first  mission- 
ary to  Moslems,  stoned  to 
death  at  Bugia,  Tunis. 


1452,  Perfection    of    art    of    printing 
by  Guttenberg. 


J596.  Xavier   holds   discussions   with 
the  Moslems  at  Lahore. 


APPENDIX    A 


261 


A.  D.  ISLAM 

1603.  Islam  enters  Celebes  and  New 
Guinea. 

1627.  Shah  Jehan,  Mogul  ruler  in 
India. 

1630.  Arabs  drive  out  Turks  from 
Yemen. 

1659-1707.  Aurangzeb  in   India. 

1683.  Final  check  of  Turks  at  the 
gates  of  Vienna  by  John  So- 
bieski,  King  of  Poland,  Sep- 
tember 12.  Eastern  Europe 
saved   from    Moslem   rule. 

1691.  Mohammed  bin  Abd  ul  \Va- 
hab   born. 

1739-1761.  Afghan  Mohammed  inva- 
sion of  India,  and  sack  of 
Delhi. 

1740-1780.  Wahabi  reform  spreads 
over  all  Southern  and  Central 
Arabia,   except   Oman. 

1757.  Battle  of  Plassey.  British  em- 
pire  in   India. 

1801.  Wahabis  invade  Bagdad  vilayet 
and   sack   Kerbela. 

1803.  Mecca  taken  by  the  Wahabis. 

1805-1820.  British  suppress  Wahabi 
piracy  in  the   Persian  Gulf. 

1820-1847.  British  treaties  with  Mos- 
lem chiefs  in  Persian  Gulf. 

1815.  Battle  of  Bessel.  Wahabis  de- 
feated. 

1826.  Wahabi  Jihad  in  India  against 
the  Sikhs. 


1839.  Aden     bombarded     by     British 
fleet  and  taken. 


1856.  End  of   Crimean  War.     Treaty 
of   Paris. 

1857.  Indian    (Sepoy)    Mutiny. 

1S58.  Bombardment     of     Jiddah     by 

British. 
1S60.  Civil  war  in  the  Lebanons. 


1806.  Henry  Martyn  reaches  India. 

1S20.  Levi  Parsons  and  Pliny  Fiske, 
first  missionaries  from  Amer- 
ica,  reach    Smyrna. 

1S22.  American  Mission  Press  found- 
ed  in   Malta. 

1826.  Church  Missionary  Society  at- 
tempts a  mission  in  Egypt. 

1S27.  Dr.  Eli  Smith  begins  transla- 
tion of  the  Arabic  Bible. 

1829.  Missionary  C.  G.  Pfander  vis- 
its  Persia. 

1831.  Constantinople  occupied  by 
American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners  for   Foreign   Missions. 

1833.  American  mission  begun  at 
Tabriz. 

1836.  Scriptures  published  in  Graeco- 
Turkish. 

1847.  Aintab  occupied  by  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign   Missions. 

1851.  Church  Missionary  Society  be- 
gins mission  in  Palestine. 

1856.  Hatti  Sherif,  or  charter  of  re- 
ligious freedom,  obtained  for 
Turkey. 

1S57.  Harpoot  occupied. 

1858.  Mardin  occupied. 

i860.  Dr.  Van  Dyck's  translation  of 
Arabic   New   Testament   issued. 

1862.  The  Rhenish  mission  enters 
Sumatra. 

1863.  Syrian  Protestant  College 
founded   at   Beirut. 

1866.  First      Girls'      Boarding-school, 

Cairo. 
1868.  Imad-ud-Din   ordained   at  Am- 

ritsar. 


262 


ISLAM 


A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 


1870.  Second     Turkish     invasion     of 
Yemen. 


1878.  Treaty  of  Berlin.  Independ- 
ence of  Bulgaria.  England  oc- 
cupies Cyprus.  Reforms  prom- 
ised   for    Turkey. 

1879.  Royal  Niger  Company  founded 
(Britain  in  Africa). 

1881.  Rise  of  the  Mahdi  near  Khar- 
tum. 

1882.  Massacre  of  Europeans  at 
Alexandria. 

1882.  British    occupation   of   Egypt. 

1883.  Defeat  of  Anglo-Egyptian 
forces   by  the   Mahdi. 

1885.  Fall  of  Khartum.  Murder  of 
Gordon. 

1889.  Mahdi   invasion  of  Egypt. 

1890.  Anglo-French  protectorate  de- 
clared  over  Sahara. 


1892.  French  annex  Dahomey  and 
conquer    Timbuctoo. 

1894.  Anglo-French-German  delimita- 
tion of   Soudan. 

1895.  Rebellion  of  Arabs  against  the 
Turks  in  Yemen. 

1894- 1896.  Great  Armenian  massacres. 

1896.  ^Iassacre  at  Harpoot. 

1898.  Fall  of  the  Mahdi.  Occupation 
of  the   Soudan. 

1900.  British  protectorate  declared 
over   Nigeria  and   Hansa-Land. 

1906.  The  Algeciras  Conference  re- 
garding Morocco. 


1907.  The   French   Army  enters   Mo- 
rocco.    (Casablanca.) 


A.   D.  MISSIONS 

i86<5.  Cornerstone  laid  of  Robert 
College   at   Constantinople. 

1869.  Rev.  Robert  Bruce  visits  Is- 
pahan,  Persia. 


1871.  Bible  House  built  at  Constan- 
tinople. 

1872.  Teheran  occupied  by  the  Pres- 
byterian   Mission. 

1875.  Church  Missionary  Society  be- 
gins mission  work  in  Persia. 

1876.  Euphrates  College  established 
at  Harpoot. 

1876.  Church  Missionary  Society 
opens  mission  at  Ispahan, 
Persia. 


1S81.  North  Africa  Mission  organ- 
ized. 

1882.  Church  Missionary  Society 
begins  work  in  Egypt. 

1883.  Mission  work  begun  at  Bag- 
dad by  the  Church  Missionary 
Society. 

1885.  Keith-Falconer  begins  work  at 
Aden. 

1889.  The  (American)  Arabian  Mis- 
sion   organized. 

1890.  James  Cautine,  first  American 
missionary  to  Arabia,  sails  for 
the  field. 

1891.  Bishop  French  died  at  Mus- 
cat, May   14. 

1893.  Mirza  Ibrahim  martyred  in 
Persia. 


1906.  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions 
opens  work  for  Moslems  at 
Mindanao,    P.    I. 

1906.  The  first  general  Missionary 
Conference  on  behalf  of  the 
Mohammedan  world  held  at 
Cairo. 

1907.  The  Foreign  Mission  Board, 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
begins  work  in  Algiers. 


APPENDIX   B 

WILLIAM    GIFFORD    PALGRAVE'S    CHARAC- 
TERIZATION OF  ALLAH 

"There  is  no  god  but  God-are  words  simply  tantamount  in 
English  to  the  negation  of  any  deity    save  one  alone;  and  thus 
mu?h  they  certainly  mean  in  Arabic,  but  they  {"^P/^  ^^^^^^  r^°'„! 
also.     Their   full   sense   is  not  only  to   deny   absolutely  and   un- 
reservedly  all   plurality,   whether  of  nature  or  o^  P^^f  "XJet- 
Supreme  Being,  not  only  to  establish  the  unity  of  the  Unbeget 
ting  and  the  Unbegot,  in  all  its  simp  e  and  ^"^^^^"^^"^^f^^j^V.h: 
ness,  but  besides  this  the  words  in  Arabic  and  among  the  Arabs 
imply  that  this  one  Supreme  Being  is  also  the  only  A^ent,  the 
oX  Force,  and  the  only  Act  existing  throughout  the  universe, 
and  leaves  to  all  beings  else,  matter  or  spirit,   instinct  or  mtel- 
Wnce,  physical  or  moral,  nothing  but  pure  unconditional  pas- 
siveness   alike  in  movement  or  in  quiescence,  m  f ^tion  or  in 
captivitv.    The  sole  power,  the  sole  motor,  movement,  energy  and 
deed  is  "God;  the  rest  is  downright  inertia  and  mere  mstrumental- 
ity,  from  the  highest  archangel  down  to  the  simplest  atom  o    cre- 
ation      Hence,    in    this    one    sentence,    'La   ilaha    ilia    Allah,     is 
summed  up  a  system  which,  for  want  of  a  better  "am^-  ^  "J^^ 
be  permitted  to  call  the  Pantheism  of  Force,  or  of  Act,  thus  ex 
clusivelv   assigned   to   God,   who   absorbs   it   all,   exercises   it   all, 
and  to  Whom  alone  it  can  be  ascribed    whether  for  preserving 
or  for  destroying,  for  relative  evil  or  for  equally  relative  good 
I   say  relatkl  because  it  is   clear  that,   in    such   a  theology,   no 
olace  is  left  for  absolute  good  or  evil,  reason  or  extravagance; 
all  is  abridged  in  the  autocratical  will  of  the  one  great  Agent: 
^ic  volo,  sic  iubeo,   stet  pro  ratione  voluntas  ;  or    more  signin- 
cantly  still,  in  Arabic:  ^Kama  yesha'^^s  He  wills  it,'  to  quote 
the  constantlv  recurring  expression  of  the  ^^oran.  ,•   ,-     • 

'Thus  immeasurably  and  eternally  exalted  above,  and  disbimi- 
lar  from,  all  creatures  which  lie  leveled  before  Him  on  one  com- 
mon plane  of  instrumentality  and  inertness,  God  is  One  in  the 
totality  of  omnipotent  and  omnipresent  action,  which  acknowl- 
edges no  rule,  standard  or  limit,  save  His  own  sole  and  abso- 
lute will  He  communicates  nothing  to  His  creatures ;  for  the^r 
seeming  power  and  act  ever  remain  His  alone,  and  in  return  He 
receives  nothing  from  them;  for  whatever  they  may  be,  that  they 

263 


264  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

are  in  Him,  by  Him  and  from  Him  only.  And  secondly,  no 
superiority,  no  distinction,  no  preeminence  can  be  lawfully 
claimed  by  one  creature  over  another  in  the  utter  equalization  of 
their  unexceptional  servitude  and  abasement ;  all  are  alike  tools 
of  the  one  solitary  Force,  which  employs  them  to  crush  or  to 
benefit,  to  truth  or  to  error,  to  honor  or  shame,  to  happiness  or 
misery,  quite  independently  of  their  individual  fitness,  deserts  or 
advantage,  and  simply  because  He  wills  it  and  as  He  wills  it. 

"One  might,  at  first  sight,  think  that  this  tremendous  Autocrat, 
this  uncontrolled  and  unsympathizing  Power  would  be  far  above 
anything  like  passions,  desires  or  inclinations.  Yet  such  is  not 
the  case,  for  He  has,  with  respect  to  His  creatures,  one  main 
feeling  and  source  of  action,  namely,  jealousy  of  them,  lest  they 
should  perchance  attribute  to  themselves  something  of  what  is 
His  alone,  and  thus  encroach  on  His  all-engrossing  kingdom. 
Hence  He  is  ever  more  ready  to  punish  than  to  reward,  to  inflict 
pain  than  to  bestow  pleasure,  to  ruin  than  to  build.  It  is  His 
singular  satisfaction  to  make  created  beings  continually  feel  that 
they  are  nothing  else  than  His  slaves,  His  tools,  and  contempti- 
ble tools  also,  that  thus  they  may  the  better  acknowledge  His  su- 
periority, and  know  His  power  to  be  above  their  power.  His  cun- 
ning above  their  cunning.  His  will  above  their  will.  His  pride 
above  their  pride ;  or,  rather,  that  there  is  no  power,  cunning,  will 
or  pride  save  His  own.  But  He  Himself,  sterile  in  His  inacces- 
sible height,  neither  loving  nor  enjoying  aught  save  His  own  and 
self-measured  decree,  without  son,  companion  or  counselor,  is 
no  less  barren  for  Himself  than  for  His  creatures ;  and  His  own 
barrenness  and  lone  egoism  in  Himself  is  the  cause  and  rule  of 
His  indifferent  and  unregarding  despotism  around.  The  first 
note  is  the  key  of  the  whole  tune,  and  the  primal  idea  of  God 
runs  through  and  modifies  the  whole  system  and  creed  that 
centres  in  Him. 

"That  the  notion  here  given  of  the  Deity,  monstrous  and  blas- 
phemous as  it  may  appear,  is  exactly  and  literally  that  which  the 
Koran  conveys,  or  intends  to  convey,  I  at  present  take  for 
granted.  But  that  it  indeed  is  so,  no  one  who  has  attentively 
perused  and  thought  over  the  Arabic  text  (for  there  cursory 
reading,  especially  in  a  translation,  will  not  suffice)  can  hesitate 
to  allow.  In  fact,  every  phrase  of  the  preceding  sentences,  every 
touch  in  this  odious  portrait  has  been  taken,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  word  for  word,  or,  at  least,  meaning  for  meaning,  from 
'the  Book.'  the  truest  mirror  of  the  mind  and  scope  of  its  writer. 
And  that  such  was  in  reality  Mahomet's  mind  and  idea  is  fully 
confirmed  by  the  witness-tongue  of  contemporary  tradition.  Of 
this  we  have  many  authentic  samples :  the  Saheeh,  the  commen- 
taries of  Beidhawi,  the  Mishkat-el-Misabih,  and  fifty  similar 
works,  aft'ord  ample  testimony  on  this  point." — Quoted  in  Zwem- 
er,  Moslem  Doctrine  of  God.  pp.  65-69  top;  Palgrave,  Narrative  of 
a  Year's  Journey  through  Arabia. 


APPENDIX   C 

THOMAS  PATRICK  HUGHES'  CHARACTERIZA- 
TION OF  MOHAMMED 


"The  character  of  Muhammad  is  a  historic  problem,  and  many 
have  been  the  conjectures  as  to  his  motives  and  designs.  Was 
he  an  impostor,  a  fanatic,  or  an  honest  man — 'a  very  prophet  of 
God'?  And  the  problem  might  have  forever  remained  unsolved 
had  not  the  prophet  himself  appealed  to  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments in  proof  of  his  mission.  This  is  the  crucial  test,  estab- 
lished by  the  prophet  himself.  He  claimiS  to  be  weighed  in  the 
balance  with  the  divine  Jesus. 

"Objection  has  often  been  made  to  the  manner  in  which  Chris- 
tian divines  have  attacked  the  private  character  of  Muhammad. 
Why  reject  the  prophetic  mission  of  Muhammad  on  account  of 
his  private  vices,  when  you  receive  as  inspired  the  sayings  of 
a  Balaam,  a  David,  or  a  Solomon?  Missionaries  should  not,  as 
a  rule,  attack  the  character  of  Muhammad  in  dealing  with  Is- 
lam ;  it  rouses  opposition,  and  is  an  ofifensive  line  of  argument. 
Still,  in  forming  an  estimate  of  his  prophetic  claims,  we  main- 
tain that  the  character  of  ^luhammad  is  an  important  considera- 
tion. We  readily  admit  that  bad  men  have  sometimes  been,  like 
Balaam  and  others,  the  divinely  appointed  organs  of  inspiration; 
but  in  the  case  of  Muhammad,  his  professed  inspiration  sanc- 
tioned and  encouraged  his  own  vices.  That  which  ought  to 
have  been  the  fountain  of  purity  was,  in  fact,  the  cover  of  the 
prophet's  depravity.  But  how  different  it  is  in  the  case  of  the 
true  prophet — David — where,  in  the  words  of  inspiration,  he  lays 
bare  to  public  gaze  the  enormity  of  his  own  crimes.  The  deep 
contrition  of  his  inmost  soul  is  manifest  in  every  line — T  ac- 
knowledge my  transgression,  and  my  sin  is  ever  before  me : 
against  Thee,"  Thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil  in 
Thy  sight.' 

"The  best  defenders  of  the  Arabian  prophet  are  obliged  to 
admit  that  the  matter  of  Zainab,  the  wife  of  Zaid.  and  again  of 
Mary,  the  Coptic  slave,  are  'an  indelible  stain'  upon  his  mem- 
ory; that  'he  is  once  or  twice  untrue  to  the  kind  and  forgiving 
disposition  of  his  best  nature ;  that  he  is  once  or  twice  unrelent- 
ing in  the  punishment  of  his  personal  enemies ;   and  that  he  is 

265 


2^0  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

guilty  even  more  than  once  of  conniving  at  the  assassination  ol 
inveterate  opponents' ;  hut  they  give  no  satisfactory  explanation 
or  apology  for  all  this  being  done  under  the  supposed  sanction 
of  God  in  the  Quran. 

"In  forming  an  estimate  of  Muhammad's  prophetical  preten- 
sions, it  must  be  remembered  that  he  did  not  claim  to  be  the 
founder  of  a  new  religion,  but  merely  of  a  new  covenant.  He 
is  the  last  and  greatest  of  all  God's  prophets.  He  is  sent  to  con- 
vert the  world  to  the  one  true  religion  which  God  had  before 
revealed  to  the  five  great  law-givers — Adam,  Noah,  Abraham, 
Moses  and  Jesus  !  The  creed  of  Muhammad,  therefore,  claims 
to  supersede  that  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  it  is  here  that  we  take 
our  stand.  We  give  Muhammad  credit  as  a  warrior,  as  a  legis- 
lator, as  a  poet,  as  a  man  of  uncommon  genius  raising  himself, 
amidst  great  (Opposition. to  the  pinnacle  of  renown;  we  admit  that 
he  is,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  greatest  heroes  the  world  has 
ever  seen ;  but  when  we  consider  his  claim  to  supersede  the  mis- 
sion of  the  divine  Jesus,  we  strip  him  of  his  borrowed  plumes, 
and  reduce  him  to  the  condition  of  an  impostor !  For  whilst  he 
has  adopted  and  avowed  his  belief  in  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Jew,  and  the  Christian,  and  has  given  them  all  the  stamp  and 
currency  which  his  authority  and  influence  could  impart,  he  has 
attempted  to  rob  Christianity  of  every  distinctive  truth  which  it 
possesses — its  Divine  Saviour,  its  Heavenly  Comforter,  its  two 
Sacraments,  its  pure  code  of  social  morals,  its  spirit  of  love  and 
truth — and  has  written  his  own  refutation  and  condemnation  with 
his  own  hand,  by  professing  to  confirm  the  divine  oracles  which 
sap  the  very  foundations  of  his  religious  system.  We  follow  the 
prophet  in  his  self-asserted  mission  from  the  cave  of  Hira'  to 
the  closing  scene,  when  he  dies  in  the  midst  of  the  lamentations 
of  his  harim  and  the  contentions  of  his  friends;  the  visions  of 
Gabriel,  the  period  of  mental  depression,  the  contemplated  sui- 
cide, the  assumption  of  the  prophetic  office,  his  struggles  with 
Makkan  unbelief,  his  fight  to  al-Madinah,  his  triumphant  entry 
into  Makkah — and,  whilst  we  wonder  at  the  genius  of  the  hero, 
we  pause  at  every  stage  and  inquire:  'Is  this  the  apostle  of  God, 
whose  mission  is  to  claim  universal  dominion,  to  the  suppression 
not  merely  of  idolatry,  but  of  Christianity  itself?'  Then  it  is 
that  the  divine  and  holy  character  of  Jesus  rises  to  our  view, 
and  the  inquiring  mind  sickens  at  the  thought  of  the  beloved,  the 
pure,  the  lowly  Jesus  giving  place  to  that  of  the  ambitious,  the 
sensual,  the  time-serving  hero  of  Arabia.  In  the  study  of  Islam, 
the  character  of  Muhammad  needs  an  apology  or  a  defence  at 
every  stage ;  but  in  the  contemplation  of  the  Christian  system, 
whilst  we  everywhere  read  of  Jesus,  and  see  the  reflection  of  His 
image  in  everything  we  read,  the  heart  revels  in  the  contempla- 
tion, the  inner  pulsations  of  our  spiritual  life  bound  within  us 
at  the  study  of  a  character  so  divine,  so  pure. 

"We  are  not  insensible  to  the  beauties  of  the  Qur'an  as  a  lite- 


APPENDIX    C  2^^ 

rary  production  (although  they  have,  without  doubt,  been  over- 
rated); but,  as  \vc  admire  its  conceptions  of  the  Divine  nature, 
its  deep  and  fervent  trust  in  the  power  of  God,  its  frequent  deep 
moral  earnestness,  and  its  sententious  wisdom,  we  would  gladly 
rid  ourselves  of  our  recollections  of  the  prophet,  his  licentious 
harim,  his  sanguinary  battlefields,  his  ambitious  schemes ;  whilst 
as  we  peruse  the  Christian  Scriptures  we  find  the  grand  central 
charm  in  the  divine  character  of  its  Founder.  It  is  the  divine 
character  of  Jesus  which  gives  fragrance  to  His  words ;  it  is 
the  divine  form  of  Jesus  which  shines  through  all  He  says  or 
does ;  it  is  the  divine  life  of  Jesus  which  is  the  great  central 
point  in  Gospel  history.  How,  then,  we  ask,  can  the  creed  of 
Muhammad,  the  son  of  'Abdu'llah,  supersede  and  abrogate  that 
of  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God?  And  it  is  a  remarkable  coincidence 
that,  whilst  the  founder  of  Islam  died  feeling  that  he  had  but 
imperfectly  fulfilled  his  mission,  the  Founder  of  Christianity 
died  in  the  full  consciousness  that  His  work  was  done — 'it  is 
finished.'  It  was  in  professing  to  produce  a  revelation  which 
should  supersede  that  of  Jesus  that  Muhammad  set  the  seal  of 
his  own  refutation." — Hughes,  Notes  on  Muhammadanism,  p.  2; 
Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam,  pp.  398  and  399. 


APPENDIX   D 

LIST  OF  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES 

THE  PRINCIPAL  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES  AND  BOARDS  WORK- 
ING IN  MOSLEM  LANDS  OR  AMONG  MOSLEMS,  DIRECTLY 
OR  INDIRECTLY,  ARE  AS  FOLLOWS: 

American  Bible  Society   (organized,   1816),   New  York;   periodical,  Bible  So- 
ciety Record;  field,  The  Levant,  Arabia. 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions   (organized,   1810), 

Boston.   Mass.;     periodical.  Missionary  Herald;     field,  Turkish  Empire 

India. 
Arabian    Mission    (organized,    1889),    New    York;    periodicals,  Mi,y^zon    Field; 

Neglected  Arabia;  field,  Arabia. 
Basel  Evangelical  Missionary  Society  (1815),  Basel,  Switzerland;  periodical, 

Der  Evangelische  Heidenbote;  field,   West  Africa. 
Bible    Lands    Missions'    Aid    Society    (1856),    London,    England;    periodical, 

Star  in  the  East;  field,  Egypt,  Levant,  Arabia. 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (1889),  New  York; 

periodical,    I^V  or  Id-Wide   Missions;    field,  India,  Algiers. 
Board   of    Foreign   Missions    of   the   Presbyterian    Church    in   the   U.    S.    A. 

(1837),    New    York;    periodical.    Assembly    Herald;    field,    Syria,    Persia, 

India. 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North 
America  (1859),  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  periodical.  United  Presbyterian  Church 
Record;  field,   Egypt,   India. 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  (1804),  London,  England;  periodical,  5i&/^ 
Society  Reporter;  field.   North   Africa,    Persia,   India,   etc. 

Cambridge  Mission  to  Delhi   (1867),  Cambridge,   England;  field,   India. 

Central  Morocco  Medical  Mission  (1894),  Dennistown,  Glasgow,  Scotland; 
field,   Morocco. 

China  Inland  Mission  (1865),  Mildmay,  London,  England;  periodical, 
China's  Millions;  field,  Yunnan    Shensi. 

Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  (1887),  New  York;  periodical.  Christian 
and  Missionary   Alliance;  field,    Palestine. 

Church  Missionary  Society  (1799),  Salisbury  Square,  London,  England;  pe- 
riodicals, Church  Missionary  Gleaner,  Mercy  and  Truth,  Church  Missionary 
Review;  field,  Egypt,  Uganda,  Persia,  Palestine,  India,  Arabia,  East 
Africa. 

Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society,  27  Chancery  Lane,  Lon- 
don, England;  periodical,  India's  IVotnen;  'held,   India. 

Deutsche  Orient  Mission,  near  Berlin,  Germany;  periodical,  Der  C/trist/ic/ie 
Orient;  field,   Bulgaria,   Persia. 

Egypt  General  Mission  (1S98),  Belfast,  Ireland;  periodical,  Egypt  General 
Mission   News;  field.   Lower   Egypt. 

Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  (1900),  Edinburgh, 
Scotland;  periodical,   United  Free  Church  Record;  field,  Arabia. 
268 


APPENDIX   D  269 

Java  Comite  (1S55),  Amsterdam,  Holland;  periodical,  Geillustrurd  Zendings- 
blad;  field,  Java. 

Netherlands  Missionary  Society  (1797)1  Rotterdam,  Holland;  periodical, 
Maandbcrichten,   Madedeelingen ;   field,   Java. 

Netherlands:  Union  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Egypt  (1886), 
Amsterdam,   Holland;   field,   Egypt. 

North  Africa  Mission  (1881),  London,  E.  C,  England;  periodical.  North 
Africa:  field,  Egypt,  Tunis,  Tripoli,  Morocco. 

Rhenish  Missionary  Society,  Barmen,  Germany;  periodical,  Missionsblatt 
Barmen;  field,   Sumatra. 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  (1701),  London, 
England;  periodicals.  The  Mission  Field,  The  East  and  the  West;  field, 
East  Africa. 

Southern  Morocco  Mission  (1888),  Glasgow,  Scotland;  periodical.  The 
Reaper;  field,    Morocco. 

Soudan  Pioneer  Mission  (1900),  Wiesbaden,  Germany;  periodical,  Der  Sou- 
dan Pio7tier;  field,  Assuan. 

Universities  Mission  to  Central  Africa  (1858),  London,  England;  field,  Cen- 
tral  Africa. 

United  Soudan  Mission  ( ),  Germantown,  Pennsylvania;  field,  . 


APPENDIX   E 

SELECT    BIBLIOGRAPHY    FOR    REFERENCE 
AND    FURTHER    STUDY 

CHAPTER  I 

On  Arabia  Before  Islam 

Caussin  de  Perceval,  A.    P.— Essai   sur  I'Histoire  des   Arabes 

avant  I'lslamisme,  pendant  I'Epoque  de  Mahomet,  et  jusqua 

la  Reduction  de  toutes  les  Tribus  sous  la  Loi  Musulmaine.    3 

vols.     Paris,  1902. 

This  is  a  reprint  of  the  original  edition  of  1847,   and  is  a  mine  of  infer- 

mation  on  the  subject;  generally  reliable  and  authoritative. 

Wellhausen,   J. — Reste   Arabischen   Heidentums.     Second   edi- 
tion.    Berlin,  1897. 
Critical  essays  on  the  idols,  the  Haj,  and  the  ancient  cult  of  the  Arabs, 
with  reference  to  their  literature  and  the  origin  of  Islam. 

Grimme,  Hubert. — Die  Weltgeschichtliche  Bedeutung  Arabians: 
Mohammed.     Munich,  1904. 
Gives  an  account  of  the  Sabean  civilization,  and  shows  how  much  Islam 
owes  to  South  Arabian  monotheism.    The  map  is  excellent;  there  are  sixty 
illustrations. 

Goldziher,  Ignaz. — Mohammedanische  Studien.    2  vols.     Halle. 
1890. 
Critical  essays  on  the  relation  between  Arabian  paganism  and  Islam,  and 
on  Mohammedan  tradition.     Invaluable  to  the  student,   but  not  easy  read- 
ing. 

Sale,  George. — Preliminary  Discourse  to  the  Koran. 

Printed   as   Introduction  in   most   editions   of   Sale's   Koran.     A  brief  ac- 
count and,  for  the  most  part,  reliable. 

MuiR,  Sir  William. — Introduction  to  his  Life  of  Mahomet. 

Excellent. 

ZwEMER,  S.  M.— Arabia;  Cradle  of  Islam. 
Chapters  XVI  and  XXIX 

270 


APPENDIX    E  271 

On  the  Sources  of  Islam 

Hughes,  T.   P. — Dictionary  of  Islam.     New  York  and  London, 
1885. 

A  reference  book  of  the  greatest  value  for  the  whole  subject,  altho  writ- 
ten   from    an    Indian    standpoint.      For    this    chapter    see    articles    on   Jews, 

Christianity,   and  Mecca. 

Geiger.     Rabbi. — Was     hat     Mohammed     aus     das     Judentum 
aufgenommen?    Wiesbaden,  1833.    Translation  of  the  same: 
Judaism  and  Islam.    Madras,  1898. 
A  prize  essay,  and  full  of  information  on  the  parallels  between  the  Tal- 
mud and  the  Koran. 

TiSDALL,  W.   St.   Clair. — The  Original   Sources  of  the  Qur'an. 
S.P.C.K.     London,    1905. 
The  result  of  many  years  of  study,  and  the  best  book  on  the  whole  sub- 
ject.    Intensely  interesting,  and  in  compact  form. 

Pautz,  Otto. — Mohammed's  Lehre   von  der  Offenbarung.  Leip- 
zig, i8g8. 

Contains  much  new  material,  and  gives  references  to  Moslem  writers. 
Chapter  III,  on  the  relation  of  Islam  to  ancient  paganism  and  Arabian 
Christianity,  is  especially  important. 

For  further  references,  see  the  footnotes  of  Pautz. 


CHAPTER  II 

KoELLE,  S.  W. — Mohammed  and  IMohammedanism  Critically 
Considered.  London,  1888. 
By  far  the  best  brief  biography,  and  from  a  missionary  standpoint.  The 
book  gives  a  threefold  view  of  Mohammed  as  seen  in  the  daylight  of  his- 
tory, in  the  moonshine  of  tradition  and  in  contrast  with  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Saviour. 

MuiR,  Sir  William. — Life  of  Mahomet.    4  vols.     London,  1858. 
Reprinted  in  abridged  form;  London,  1897. 
The  best  authority  in  the  English  language.     Exhaustive. 

Smith,     R.     Bosvvorth. — Mohammed     and     Mohammedanism. 
London,   1876. 
A  strong   apology   for   the   prophet,   and   written   in   attractive    style,    but 
very  one-sided.     Read  with   Koelle's  book. 

Sprenger,  Aloys. — Das  Leben  und  die  Lehre  des  Moham- 
med. 3  vols.  Berlin,  1865.  Also,  Life  of  Mohammed  from 
original  sources.     Allahabad,  1851. 

Weil.     Gustav. — Das     Leben     Mohammed.    2     vols.     Stuttgart, 
1864. 
Based  on  the  earliest  Moslem  biography  by  Ibn  Ishak,  as  found  in  Ibn 
Hisham. 


2/2  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

Ameer,   All— The    Spirit   of  Islam;   or,   The  Life   and   Teach- 
ings of  Mohammed.     Calcutta,   1902. 
Written  by  an  Indian  Moslem,  Judge  of  the  High  Court  in  Bengal     Of 
considerable  literary  merit,  and  perhaps  the  most  clever,  though  unhistori- 
cal,   apology  that  could   be  written  by  a  follower  of  the   New  Islam. 

Marcoliouth,  D.  S.— Mohammed  and  the  Rise  of  Islam.     Lon- 
don, 1905. 

Written  by  an  Oxford  professor  for  the  "Heroes  of  the  Nations"  series. 
Neither  an  apology  nor  an  indictment,  but  a  scholarly  and  yet  popular 
biography  of  Mohammed  as  founder  of  the  Arabian  Empire.  Well  illus- 
trated, and  with  good  bibliography. 

The  following  biographies  of  Mohammed  can  also  be  consulted 
with  profit;  nor  is  the  list  complete: 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh. — The  Life  and  Death  of  Mahomet.     1637. 

Gibbon's  chapter  in  his  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Wellhausen,  in  Das  Arabische  Reich  und  sein  Sturz. 

L.  Krehl  (1884). — Alohammed. 

H.  Grim  me  (1892). — Mohammed. 

Thomas  Carlyle. — The  Hero  as  Prophet  (in  Heroes  and  Hero- 
Worship.) 

Washington  Irving  (1850).— The  Life  of  Mahomet. 

George  Bush  (1844.)— The  Life  of  Mahomet. 

Marcus  Dods,  in  Mohammed,  Buddha,  and  Christ.     1878. 

P.   De   Lacy  Johnstone. — Muhammad  and   His   Power.     1901. 

A.  N.  Wollaston. — The  Sword  of  Islam.     1905. 

CHAPTER  HI 

Arnold,  T.  W. — The  Preaching  of  Islam :  A  history  of  the 
Propagation  of  the  Muslim  Faith.  Westminster,  1896. 
The  fullest  and  best  account  of  the  spread  of  Islam  from  the  earliest 
times  until  to-day.  The  author,  however,  is  an  apologist  for  Islam,  and 
tries  to  show  that  the  sword  was  not  used  to  any  large  extent  in  the 
propagation  of  this  faith.  His  arguments  are  often  fallacious.  Exhaustive 
bibliography  of  nearly  three  hundred  books  in  many  languages. 

Haines,  C.  R. — Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion.     1889. 

A  good  brief  account  of  the  rise  and  spread  of  Islam,  giving  causes  of 
its  success.     Not  quite  up  to  date. 

Osborn,  Major.— Islam  under  the  Arabs.    London,  1876. 


APPENDIX    E  273 

OsBORN,  Major. — Islam  under  the  Khalifs  of  Bagdad.     1878. 

These  books  state  the  case  against  Mohammed  and   Islam  very  strongly. 
Good  corrective  for  those  who  have  read  Arnold's  book. 

Bonet-Maury,  G. — L'Islamisme  et  le  Christianisme  en  Afrique. 
Paris,   1906. 
A    splendid    monograph    on    the   conflict    between    Christianity   and    Islam 
in  Africa  from  630  A.   D.  to  the  present.     Good  map. 

IVluLLER,    Dr.    a. — Der    Islam    im    Morgen    und    Abendland.    2 
vols.     With  many  maps  and  beautiful  illustrations.     Berlin, 
1885. 
The   standard  work  on   the  history  of  Arab   empire   in  the   E^st  and   the 

West.     Indispensable  to  the  student  of   Moslem  history. 

MuiR,    Sir    William. — The    Caliphate;    Its    Rise,    Decline    and 
Fall.     London,  1897. 
Best   book  on  the  first  period  of   Moslem   conquest. 

Hunter,  Sir  W.  W. — Our  Indian  Mussulmans.     London,    1871. 

Wherry,  E.   M. — Islam  and   Christianity  in   India  and  the   Far 
East.     New  York:  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  1907. 
A  splendid  piece  of  work;  authoritative  and  up  to  date.     Containing  valu- 
able appendix  on  the  work  of  the  missionary  as  a  preacher  to   Moslems. 

De  Thiersant,  p.  D'Abry. — La  Mahometisme  en  Chine.    2  vols. 
Paris,  1878. 
The   authoritative   book   on   Islam   in   China. 

Shedd,   W.   a. — Islam   and   the  Oriental   Churches :     Their  his- 
torical  relations,     Philadelphia,   1904. 
Covers    the    period    600-1500    A.    D.,    but    deals    chiefly    with    Persia.      Im- 
portant contribution  to  the  history  of  Moslem   propagandism. 

WoLLASTON,  Arthur   N. — The   Sword  of   Islam.    New  York. 
1905. 

A  popular  account  of  Islam  and  the   early  caliphate.     Illustrated. 


CHAPTER  IV 
On  the  Whole  Chapter 

Klein,  F.  A. — The  Religion  of  Islam.     London :     Trubner  &  Co., 
1906. 

A   scholarly  book   which  gives   all   the  references   in  the  original   Arabic, 
Facts  without  deductions.     Best  for  missionaries. 

Sell,  E.— The  Faith  of  Islam.     Chapter  IV.    London:    Trubner 
&  Co.,  1896. 

Minute  and  thorough.    Valuable  for  reference. 


274  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

TiSDALL,  W.  St.    Clair. — The  Original   Sources  of  the  Qur'an. 
S.P.C.K.     London,  1905. 

Traces   Moslem  beliefs  to   the   original   heathen,    Zoroastrian,  and   Jewish 
sources.     Invaluable  and  compact  handbook. 

On  the  Moslem  Idea  of  God 

ZwEMER,  S.   M.— The  Moslem  Doctrine  of  God.    A.T.S.     New 
York,  1905. 
A  monograph,  from  a  missionary  standpoint. 

Hauri. — Der    Islam    in    seinem    Einfluss    auf    das    Leben    seiner 
Bekenner.     Leyden,  1882. 
Scholarly  and  unanswerable  arguments. 

Palgrave,  W.  G. — Narrative  of  a  Year's  Journey  through  Arabia. 
Vol.  I,  pp.  365-367- 

His  famous   characterization   of  Allah.     A  full-length  portrait  of  the  God 
of  the  Wahabi  sect  of  Islam. 

Clarke,  J.  F. — Ten  Great  Religions.     Vol.  II,  p.  68,  etc. 
Noble,  F.  P. — The  Redemption  of  Africa.     Vol.  I,  p.  73. 

On  Angels  and  Jinn 

The  Arabian  Nights.     (Lane's  or  Burton's  edition.) 

Hughes,  T.  P. — Dictionary  of  Islam.     Art.     Genii,  Angels,  etc. 

Lane. — Manners    and    Customs   of    Modern    Egyptians.    2   vols. 
London. 

On  the  Koran 

Sale's  Translation  for  the  Introduction ;  Palmer's  for  the  text ; 

Rodwell's  for  chronological  order  of  the  chapters. 

MuiR,  Sir  William. — The  Coran :     Its  Composition  and  Teach- 
ing.    S.P.C.K.     London,   1878. 

A  valuable  compendium;  accurate  and  brief. 

Wherry,  E.  M. — A  Comprehensive  Commentary  on  the  Qur'an. 
London,   1882. 
Very  vduable  for  reference,  and  has  a  complete  index. 

On  Mohammed 
(See  BibHography  of  Chapter  II.) 


APPENDIX    E  275 

On  Jesus  Christ 
Hughes. — Dictionary  of  Islam.     Pp.  229-235. 
ZwEMER,  S.  M. — Moslem  Doctrine  of  God.     Pp.  83-89. 
Gerock,  C.  F. — Christologie  des  Koran.    Hamburg,  1839. 

On  Escliatology  of  Islam 

Read  Chapter  X,  on  the  Hell  of  Islam,  in  Stanley  Lane-Poole's 
Studies  in  a  Mosque. 

Klein  describes  the  Moslem  paradise,  and  quotes  authorities. 

Ameer  Ali,  in  The  Spirit  of  Islam.     Pp.  227-240.     Calcutta,  1902. 

Gives  an  apology  and  attempts  to  spiritualize  or  rationalize  the  orthodox 
literalism. 

On  Predestination 

De  Vlieger,  a. — La  Predestination  dans  la  Theologie  Musulmane. 
Leyden,  1902. 

De    Boer,    T.    J. — History    of    Philosophy    in    Islam.     London: 
Luzac  &  Co.,   1903. 
Gives  history  of  the  conflict  between  the  orthodox  and  rationalistic  par- 
ties in  Islam. 

CHAPTER   V 
On  the  Whole  Chapter 

Same  as   for   Chapter  IV.     Also   Sale's   Preliminary  Discourse 
to  his  translation  of  the  Koran. 

Ameer,  All — The  Spirit  of  Islam.     Part  II.     Calcutta,  1902. 

This  book  explains  the  practical  duties  from  the  standpoint  of  the  New 
Islam. 

Lane-Poole. — Studies  in  a  Mosque.     London,  1883. 

Very  interesting  and  reliable  account  of  outward  observances. 

On  Tradition 
Muir,  Sir  William. — Life  of  Mahomet.     Introduction. 

KoELLE,    S.    W. — Mohammed    and    Mohammedanism.     London, 
1894. 
Best  account  extant. 


2y6  ISLAM  :      A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

Pautz.  Otto. — Muhammeds  Lehre  von  der  Offenbarung  quellen- 
massig  untersucht.     Leipzig,  1898. 
Scientific,  and  full   of  references   to   original   authorities. 

On  Prayer 

Hughes. — Dictionary  of  Islam.     (Art.     Prayer.) 

Hamid    Snow. — The    Prayer-book    for    Moslems.     Lahore:     Is- 
lam.ia  Press,  1893.     Prayer-book  of  the  New  Islam. 

On  Legal  Alms 
Baille,  N.  B.  E. — Mohammedan  Law.     London,  1869. 

On  the  Pilgrimage 

BuRCKHARDT,  J.  L. — Travels  in  Arabia.    2  vols.     London,  1830. 

Burton,  R. — Personal  Narrative  of  a  Pilgrimage  to  El  Medina 
and  Mecca.     London,  1857  and  later. 
As  interesting  as  a  novel;  accurate  and  illustrated.    To  be  found  in  every 
good  library. 

HuRGRONjE,   Snouck. — Mekka,   mit  bilder   Atlas.     2  vols.     The 
Hague,  1888. 
Encyclopedic.     Beautiful   quarto   photographs  of  scenes   in   Mecca. 

HuRGRONjE,    Snouck. — Het   Mekkaansche   Feest.     Leyden,    1880. 

A  philosophical  prize  paper  on  the  origin  of  the  Pilgrimage  ceremonies. 

On  Jihad 

Speer,  R.  E. — Missions  and  Modern  History.     Vol.  II,  pp.  441- 
384.     Revell  &  Co.,   1904. 
An  account  of  the  Armenian  massacres. 

CoLQUHOUN,    Archibald    R. — Pan-Islam     (in    North    American 
Review  for  June,  1906). 

Also  the  literature  on  the  Mahdi  in  the  Soudan,  in  Somali- 
land,  and  the  present  agitation  in  Morocco. 


CHAPTER  VI 

On  the  IV hole  Chapter 

Speer,  Robert  E. — Missionary  Principles  and  Practice.     Chapter 
XXIV.     New  York:     Revell  &  Co. 

Gives  a  picture  of  conditions  in  Persia. 


APPENDIX    E  277 

The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day.  Chapters  II,  VI,  VII,  IX 
and  XIII.     New  York :  Revell  &  Co. 

Hauri,  Johannes. — Der  Islam  in  seinem  Einfluss  auf  das  Leben 
seiner  Bekenner.     Leyden,  1880. 
Authoritative  and  philosophical. 

Jessup,  H.  H.— The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem.  Phil- 
adelphia, 1889. 

Succinct  and  strong. 

Hamilton,  C. — The  Hedaya :     A  Commentary  on  Moslem  Law. 
Translated.     Edited  by  Grady.     London,    1890. 
The   best   text-book   on   the   subject.      Gives   details   of   laws  on    rnarriage, 
divorce,  slave-trade,  usury,  and  the  whole  subject  of  criminal  and  civil  law. 

On  Mohammed  as  an  Ideal 
(See  Bibliography  of  Chapter  II.) 

On  Islam  and  the  Decalogue 
Kellogg's  Handbook  of  Comparative  Religion.     Pp.  1 16-124. 

On  Polygamy,  Divorce  and  the  Degradation  of  Wom,en 

Our  Moslem  Sisters:  An  account  of  the  conditions  of  woman- 
hood in  all  Moslem  lands ;  written  by  missionaries.  New 
York:   Fleming  H.   Revell  Company,   1907. 

Perron. — Femmes  Arabs  avant  et  depuis  ITslamisme.  Paris, 
1858. 

Excellent. 

Jessup,  H.  H. — Women  of  the  Arabs.     New  York,  1874. 

Interesting,  and  not  yet  out  of  date. 

De  Regla,  Paul. — Theologie  Musulmane.  El  Kitab  des  lois 
secretes  de  I'Amour.  Translated  from  the  Arabic.  Paris, 
1906. 

Reveals  all  "the  hidden  depths  of  Satan"  in  Mohammedan  morals.  Any- 
one who  doubts  the  moral  degradation  of  Islam  and  its  Prophet  is  referred 
to  books  such  as  this. 

On  Slavery 

Blyden,  E.  W. — Christianity,  Islam  and  the  Negro  Race.  Lon- 
don, 1888. 

A  strong  plea  for  the  superiority  of  Islam  in  its  treatment  of  the  negro. 

Missionary  Reviezu  of  the  World,  June,  1899.  Article  on  The 
Present  Centre  of  the  Slave  Trade. 

Hughes. — Dictionary  of  Islam.     Article  on  Slavery. 


278  ISLAM  :       A    CHALLENGE    TO    FAITH 

CHAPTER  VII 
On  the  Whole  Chapter 
Sell. — The  Faith  of  Islam.     Chapter  III. 

Hughes. — Dictionary  of  Islam.  Articles  on  Sects  and  on  the 
various  sects  by  name. 

De  Boer^  T.  J. — History  of  Philosophy  in  Islam.  Translated 
by  E.  R.  Jones.    London :  Luzac  &  Co.,  1903. 

Best  book  on  the  subject,   and  very   interesting  reading. 

On  the  Sunnis 

(All  works  on  Islam,  when  not  specified,  describe  the  teaching 
of  this,  the  orthodox  sect.) 

On  the  Shiahs 

Malcolm. — History  of  Persia.     2  vols.     1815. 

Merrick,  James  L. — The  Life  and  Religion  of  Mohammed. 
Boston,  1850. 

A  translation  of  the  Shiah  Traditions.     Unique  and  reliable,  but   rare. 

On  Suiiism 

Whjnfield,  E.  H. — Masnavi-i-Manavi,  the  Spiritual  Couplets  of 
Jalal-ud-din.  Translated  and  abridged.  London :  Trub- 
ner  &  Co.,  1898. 

A   compendium    of   Sufi    lore  and   teaching;    full   of   interesting   anecdotes 
and  clever  stories. 

A  Mohammedan  Brought  to  Christ:  Autobiography  of  the  late 
Rev.  Imad-ud-Din,  D.D.  Twenty-two  pages.  C.M.S.  Lon- 
don,   1900. 

A  remarkable  human  document. 

The  Derwish  Orders 

Brown,    John    P.— The    Derwishes,    or    Oriental    Spiritualism. 
London :  Trubner  &  Co.,  1868. 
The  standard  work  on  the  subject  in  English,  especially  on  ritual. 

Petit,     R..     P.     Louis.— Les     Confreries     Musulmanes.      Paris 
Librairie,   B.   Bloud,    1902. 
An  interesting  and  brief  account;  up  to  date,  and  with  good  bibliography. 

Jansen,  Hubert. — Verbreitung  des  Islams.     Berlin,  1897. 
Gives  statistics  and  location  of  all  the  various  orders  of  Derwishes. 


APPENDIX   E  279 

On  the  Babis 

Speer,  R.   E. — Missions  and   Modern   History.     Vol.   I,  pp.    118- 
182.     Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,   1904. 

A  full  and  fair  account,  with  references  and  very  valuable  notes  by  other 
authorities. 

(See  also  Sell's  Faith  of  Islam.) 

On  the  IVahahis 

ZwEMER. — Arabia,     pp.     190-200.     Also,     The     Wahabis :     Their 
Origin,   History,   Tenets  and  Influence  in   Victoria  Institute 
Journal;  volume  for  1901. 
Gives  complete  bibliography  and  a  chronology  of  Wahabi  Empire. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

On  the  Whole  Chapter 

The  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day.  Being  papers  read  at  the 
First  Missionary  Conference  on  behalf  of  the  Mohammedan 
world,  held  in  Cairo  April  4  to  9,  1906.  New  York :  Flem- 
ing H.  Revell  Company,  1906. 

Our  Moslem  Sisters :    A  cry  from  lands  of  darkness ;  interpreted 
by  those  that  heard  it.     Edited  by  Annie  Van  Sommer  and 
Samuel  M.  Zwemer.    Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  1907. 
A  series  of  papers,  by  missionaries,  on  the  condition  of  women  in  every 

Moslem  land. 

Islam   and    Christianity   in    India    and    the    Far    East. — By    Rev. 
E.  M.  Wherry,  D.D.     Lectures  delivered  before  theological 
seminaries.     Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  1907. 
Scholarly  and  up-to-date  account  of  Islam  in  India,  China,  and  Malaysia. 
Valuable  historical  material.    Very  readable. 

Statistics  of  Population  and  Distribution  of  Mohammedatu. 

Jansen,    Hubert. — Verbreitung   des    Islams.     Lithographed    and 
issued  in  pamphlet  form.     Berlin,   1897. 
The  statistics  are  exhaustive  and,  in  most  cases,  reliable.    Bibliography  is 
excellent. 

Government  Census  Reports  of  India. 

The  Statesman's  Year  Book. 

Encyclopedia  of  Missions. 

The  Statistical  Tables  in  the  Mohammedan  World  of  To-day. 
See  Appendix. 


28o  ISLAM  :      A   CHALLENGE   TO   FAITH 

CHAPTERS  IX,  X,  XI  AND  XII 

Before  Raymund  Lull 

Keller,  A. — Der  Geisteskampf  des  Christentums  gegen  den  Is- 
lam bis  zur  zeit  der  Kreuzziige.     Leipzig,  1896. 
An  account  of  the  attitude  of  the  Christian  church  toward  Islam  and  the 
early  controversial  writings  up  to  the  time  of  the  Crusades.    Valuable  bibli- 
ography. 

Thoma,   Johannes. — Zwei   Biicher   gegen   den   Muhammedanis- 
mus  von  Petrus  Venerabilis.     Leipzig,  1896. 
A   translation  of  the   controversial   tracts  of   Petrus   Venerabilis   from   the 
Latin,  with  introduction. 

Steinscheeider,  Moritz. — Polemische  und  Apologetische  Litera- 
teur  in  Arabischer  Sprache  Zwischen  Muslimen  Christen  und 
Juden.     Leipzig,  1877. 
A  history  of  Moslem  and  Christian  controversial  writings  from  the  earli- 
est times. 

On  Raymund  Lull 

Barber,  W.  T.  A. — Raymond  Lull,  the  Illuminated  Doctor.  A 
study  in  medieval  missions.    London,  1903. 

ZwEMER,  Samuel  M. — Raymund  Lull,  First  Missionary  to  the 
Moslems.     (Full  bibliography.)     New  York,   1902. 

Andre,  Marius. — Le  Bienheureux  Raymund  Lulle.     Paris,  1900. 
These  three   biographies,    appearing  almost   simultaneously,   give  a  three- 
fold portrait  of   Lull :    the   first   of  the  philosopher,   the   second   of  the  mis- 
sionary, and  the  third  of  the  Roman  Catholic  saint  and  martyr. 

Other  Biographies 

Smith,  George. — Henry  Martyn,  Saint  and  Scholar,  First  Mod- 
ern    Missionary     to     the     Mohammedans.     1781-1812.     New 
York  (no  date). 
The  best  life  of  Henry  Martyn. 

Eppler,  Christopf  F. — Dr.  Karl  Gottlieb  Pfander  ein  Zeuge  der 
Wahrheit  unter  den  Bekennern  des  Islam.     Basel,  1900. 
A  brief  biography  of  Pfander,  with  portrait. 

Sinker,  Robert. — Memorials  of  the  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falmoner, 
M.A.,  Lake  Lord  Almoner's  professor  of  Arabic  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge  and  missionary  to  the  Mohammedans 
of  Southern  Arabia.     Sixth  edition.     Cambridge,   1890. 

Birks,  Herbert. — Life  and  Correspondence  of  Bishop  Thomas 
Valpy  French.    2  vols.     London,  1895. 


APPENDIX  E  281 

Jessup,  H.   H. — The  Setting  of  the  Crescent  and  the   Rising  of 
the  Cross;  or,  Kamil  Abdul  Messiah.     Philadelphia,  1898. 
The  story  of  a  Syrian  convert  who  became  a  missionary  in  Arabia.     This 
interesting  volume  has  been  translated   into   German,   Dai.ish,  and   Dutch. 

AvvETARANiAN,    JoHANNES. — Geschichte    eines     Muhammedaners 
der  Christ  Wurde.    Deutsche  Orient  Mission,  Berlin.  1905. 
Autobiography  of  a  Turkish  convert  now  a  missionary  to   Moslems. 

1mad-ud-din. — A  Mohammedan  Brought  to  Christ :  An  au- 
tobiography translated  from  the  Hindustani  by  the  late  Rev. 
R.  Clark ;  with  appendix  and  notes.  London :  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  1900. 

Organized  Missionary  Work 

RuTHEjFORD,  J.  and  Glenny,  Edward  H. — The  Gospel  in  North 
Africa.     Story  of  the  North  Africa  Mission.     London,  1900. 

Watson,  Andrew. — The  American  Mission  in  Egypt.  1854-1896. 
Pittsburg,   1898. 

Watson,  Charles  R. — Egypt  and  the  Christian  Crusade.  Phila- 
delphia, 1907. 

Hamlin,  Cyrus. — Among  the  Turks. 

Prime,  E.  D.  G. — Forty  Years  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 

Stock,  Eugene. — History  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

Zwemer,  Samuel  M. — Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam.  New  York, 
1900. 

Chapters  XXX  to  XXXVI  give  the  history  of  missions  in  Arabia. 

Barton,  James  L.,  D.D.,  and  others. — The  Mohammedan  World 
of  To-day.     Being  papers  read  at  the  First  Missionary  Con- 
ference, on  behalf  of  the  Mohammedan  world,  held  at  Cairo 
April  4  to  9,  1906.     New  York,  1906. 
A  symposium  on  the  present  conditions  and  outlook. 

For  further  information  on  these  four  chapters,  consult  the 
general  histories  of  .missions  and  the  reports  and  periodicals  of 
the  societies  given  in  the  Appendix. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abadiyah,   141. 

Abbas,   112. 

Abbe  Hue,  quoted,  20. 

Abd    Allah,    13. 

Abd    ul    Hak,    Sheikh,   224,  225. 

Abdul    Hamid,    165. 

Abd  ul  Kader,  quoted  on  sects  in 
Islam,  136;  strives  to  recall  Arabs 
of  North  Africa,   64. 

Abd  ul   Kasim,   147. 

Abdullah,  father  of  Mohammed,  29; 
invades    Tripoli,    62 

Abd  ul  Muttalib,  9,  29,  33. 

Abd    ul    Wahab,    239;    quoted,    151. 

Abd    ur    Rahman    ibn    Ausajah,    100. 

Abraha,  leads  expedition  to  Mecca, 
builds  cathedral  at  Sanaa,  20;  de- 
feated   at   Koreish,    20,    32. 

Abraham,  16,  17,  89,  92,  114;  first 
Hanif,  23;   place  of,    no. 

Abu  Bekr,  convert  to  Mohammed, 
34.  59.  70,  138;  proclaimed  Caliph, 
58;    quoted,    60. 

Abu    Daood,   8,    100. 

Abu   el    riassan,    147. 

Abu  el  Kasim,  139,  147. 

Abu    Hanifa,    137. 

Abu   Huraira,    104. 

Abu   Ishak,    loo. 

Abu    Kabsha,   70. 

Abu    Kiiraib,    100. 

Abu  Soofian,  9. 

Abu  Talib,  uncle  of  Mohammed,  34. 

Abu   Ubaiha,    14. 

Abyssinia,    63. 

Achin,    173. 

Adam,    89,    91,    in,    122. 

Aden,  200,  215. 

Adi  bin   Zaid,  8. 

^sop,   91,  92. 

Afehans,  74,   156. 

Afghanistan,  57,  68,  141,  156,  160,  162. 
165,  174,  198,  227,  232,  233,  247;  esti' 
mated   Moslem   population  of,   231 

Africa,  58,  61,  155,  156,  161,  192,  193 
198,  22S,  229,  231,  237;  map  of  un 
occupied  mission  fields,  159;  Mo 
hammedan  population  of,  157,  205 
Moslem  situation  in,  158;  north. 
i>  57.  138,  227;  spread  of  Islam  in, 
158,  159;  west,  233. 
Agra,  population  of,  215. 
Ahmad  al  Barzinji  al   Hasaini,   168 


Ahmadabad,   population   of,   215. 

Ahmed,  Sir  Saiyad,  Khan  of  Ali- 
garh,   179. 

Aisha,  31,  32. 

Aitken,    Rev.   J.,   quoted,  230. 

Akaba,    36. 

Akba,  words  of,  56;  penetrates 
Mauritania^  62. 

Akbar,   75;  Emperor,  194. 

Akka,    148. 

Alanus    de    Insulis,    188. 

Albion,    170. 

Alchemy,    178. 

Aleppo  visited  bv  Mohammed,  35; 
population   of,    215. 

Alexander  the   Great,   91,   92. 

Alexandria,  217;  population  of,  214; 
taken,   62. 

Alfarabi,    137. 

Alfred,  132. 

Al  Ghazzali,  179;  philosopher  of 
Sunnis,  137;  quoted,  94,  95. 

Algeciras   Conference,    166. 

Algemeine    Missions   Zeitschrift,  157. 

Algeria,  65. 

Algiers,  56,  165,  170,  176,  204,  209, 
215    217. 

Al  Hajaj  sends  expedition  to  Daibul, 
73- 

Al   Harith,  8. 

Ali,  31,  132,  135,  138,  140;  convert  of 
Mohammed,   34. 

Al   Kindi,   quoted,   59,   189. 

Allah,  50,  57,  60,  61,  III,  150;  not 
bound  by  our  standard  of  justice, 
122;  occurs  frequently  in  pre- 
Islamic  poetry,  12;  place  and  wor- 
ship of,  14;  speculation  on  at- 
tributes of,  141;  superior  position 
of,  13;  winks  at  sins  of  his  favor- 
ites, 122;  word  not  invented  by 
Mohammed,    13. 

Allahabad,   population   of,   215. 

Allahu   akbar,    163. 

Alms,  legal,  108;  to  whom  given, 
109. 

A    Lo    Shan,   70. 

Ameer,   232,    247. 

America,   249,   251. 

American  Board,  200. 

Amina,    mother    of   Mohammed,   29; 

death    of.    34. 
Amritsar,    population   of,    215. 

Amru   bin    Kulsum,    8. 


285 


286 


INDEX 


Amru  ibn  el  As  invades  Egypt.  62. 
Angels,  inferior  to  prophets,  88;  in- 
tercede for  men,  88. 
Antar,   8. 
Anti-Christ,   95. 

Arabia,  1-5,  7,  10,  39,  57,  88.  109, 
no,  127,  135,  138,  150,  151,  156,  160, 
161,  165,  167,  174,  176,  196,  198,  200, 
203,  211,  217.  22-j,  233,  239,  246; 
Central  and  Eastern,  138;  East,  10; 
gods  of,  source  and  knowledge  of, 
\2\  history,  two  periods  of,  2; 
in  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  3; 
invaded,  4-5;  Mission  of,  249;  no 
hope  for,  in  Islam,  152;  North,  4; 
Pagan,  2,  3-5;  social  conditions  of, 
5;  political  unrest  of,  5;  ready  for 
Christian  faith,  19;  refuge  for  re- 
ligious fugitives,  10;  rich  in  mar- 
tyrs, 200;  South,  monuments  of, 
3;   Southwestern,   19. 

Arabic,  195;  language  of  angels;  in- 
fluence of,  162.   163. 

Arafat,    no;    pilgrimage   to,    17. 

Aragon,    191. 

Aristotle,    137. 

Arius,   41. 

Armenia,    161. 

Armenians,    171,  201. 

Arnold,  T.   W.,    114;  quoted,    71,  76. 

Arabs,  150,  151,  223,  236;  always 
superstitious,  ii;  Christian,  perse- 
cuted, 18;  difficult  to  hold  in  alle- 
giance, 59;  freedom  from  foreign 
dominion,  4;  immigration,  period 
of  greatest.  63;  in  Africa,  63;  in 
China,  70;  non-,  5;  pre-Islamic, 
delight  in  genealogies,  3;  pagan 
on    higher    moral    plane,    3. 

Aryan   races,    173. 

Ash  Shah-ristani,  quoted  on  pre- 
Islamic    religion,    10. 

Asia,  158,  160,  162,  202,  218;  areas 
of  Moslem  population  unreached, 
231;  Central,  69,  i37.  227,233,  240; 
Minor,   57,   160.    165;   Western,    i. 

Assam,    75. 

As  Shafi,   137. 

Assyrians,   4,    15. 

Astrakhan,   66. 

Aurangzeb,    75. 

Australia,    251. 

Averroes,   132,   137. 

Avicenna,     137. 

Ayesha,    136. 

Ayinah,    149. 

Azazil,   89. 

Azerbijan  converted  to  Islam,   (>t. 

B 
Bab,    The,     147,     148;    executed    by 

Shah  of  Persia,  148. 
Bab  Derebah,   128. 
Babis,     I47-I49>    248. 
Babism,  protest  against  Islam,  148. 
Babylonians,   4.    15. 


Bagdad,    147,    150,    162,    199,  200,    244; 

population  of,  215. 
Bahmanid    Mohammed    I.,    74. 
Bahrein,   60,    200,    245,    246. 
Bairam,    113. 

Baktiyar,  Mohammed,  75. 
Balban,    74. 
Balk,  68. 

Baluchistan,    160,    165,    174,   246;    esti- 
mated  Moslem  population  of,  231. 
Bara  ibn  Azib,    loi. 
Barbary  states,    163. 
Barkan  coast,  64. 
Barmen    Mission,    organ  of,    quoted, 

171. 
Barton,   Dr.   James   L.,   quoted,  201. 
Basel,    203;    mission,    234. 
Batta   tribes,    j-j. 
Battaks,    205,    22,2. 
Bedouin,  47,  59,  128,  156,  176. 
Bedr,   36. 

Beha'is,     147-149,     248. 
Beha-Ullah,    148. 
Beirut,   population   of,  215. 
Beirut    Press,    245,    246. 
Beit    Allah,    11,    14,    155. 
Bengal,    126,  212,,  235,  243;    Moslems 

in,    161. 
Benghazi,  64. 

Bennett,    Mrs.    Jessie   Vail,    200. 
Bent,  J.  Theodore,  quoted  on  slave- 
trade,    128. 
Berbers,    49,    156. 
Bethel,    11. 

Bible,  103,  179,  248;  distribution  of, 
210;  in  Moslem  tongue,  245;  Mo- 
hammedan, 127;  translated,  215; 
translations  of,  164;  vernacular,  de- 
mand for,  215,  216. 
Binwe,  dj,. 
Bizerta,  217. 

Black    Stone,    17,    36,    no,    112,    155; 
pre-Islamic,    kissing    of,    11;    story 
of,   in;   veneration   of,    in. 
Blunt,  Wilfred  S.,  quoted  on  Shiahs, 

140,    152. 
Blyden,    Dr.,    131. 
Bni  Abd  al   Kais,   18. 
Bni    Ghassan,    18. 
Bni   Harith,    18. 
Bni    Kainuka,   15. 
Bni  Koraiza,  15,  37. 
Bni    Nadhir,    15. 
Bni    Saad,    34. 
Bni  Taglib,    18. 

Bokhara,  68,  69,   160,  218;  conquered 
and  converted  three  times,  68;   es- 
timated    Moslem     population     of, 
231;    present    stronghold    of    Islam 
in    Central    Asia,   6g. 
Bombay,  228;  population  of,   214. 
Bonet-Maury,    61. 
Borneo,    234. 
Bosnia,    58. 

Bosra,  Bishops  of,  present  at  Nicene 
Council,  17. 


INDEX 


287 


British   rule,   169,    170. 

Brockhaus,   "Convers-Lexikon,"    157. 

Kroughton,    Hugh,   quoted,   40,   41. 

Bruce,    Kev.    Robert,    198,    199. 

Buddhism,    55. 

Bugiu,    liJs,    192,    244- 

Burckhardt,   no. 

Bulgaria,  200;  conquered,  66. 

Jiunna,   79,   233. 

Burton,   no. 

Busoga,   236. 

Busrali,    150,   200,   246. 


Cairo— University,  58,  172,  237;  popu- 
lation of,  214;  literary  capital  of 
islam,  22'i;  conference  of  1906,  71, 
157,  248-253;  appeal  of,  249-253;  ex- 
ecutive committee  of,  251. 
Calcutta,    79,    103,    147.    171.   239,   244; 

population  of,  214. 
Canada,  251. 
Canton,    69,    i55- 
Carey,    186,    193. 
Carlyle,    56. 

Cawnpore,  population  of,  215. 
Celebes,    161. 
Ceylon,    in,  228. 
Chaldea,    62,    73. 

China,  55,    103,   155,   156,   157,   162,   173, 
186,    227,    232;     estimated    Moslem 
population    of,    231;    first    body    of 
Arab    settlers    in,    70;    example    of 
peaceful    propaganda    by    Moslem 
preachers,  69;   Moslems  in,  161. 
Chinese    Tartary,    68. 
Christianity,    i,   2,    19,   23,    55,    57.  86, 
159.   173.  212,  231,  236,  240;  advance 
of,    among    Moslems,    217,   218;    in- 
troduced   into    Arabia    very    early, 
17;     Mohammedan     objections    to, 
213;   one  of   the   sources   of   Islam, 
21;    pre-Islamic,    17-22;    widely    dif- 
fused   in    Arabia    at    time    of    Mo- 
hammed,  18. 
Christians,    9.    iS,    H9,    171;    persecu- 
tion of,   by  the  Jev/s,  20. 
Church,  early  attitude  towards  Mos- 
lems,   187,    188. 
Church  Missionary  Society,   191,   i99, 

200,    203,    2n,    229. 
Circassians,    176. 
Circumcision,    female,    practised    by 

Moslems,    113. 
Clarke,  James  Freeman,  198;  quoted, 

40,  87. 
Clugny,    Abbot   of,    189. 
Coins,    Nabathean    and    South    Ara- 
bian,   6. 
College,     Anglo-Mohammedan,     179; 
Beirut,     240;     Gordon     Memorial 
Bible  has  no  place  at,  172;    Impe 
rial,    247;    Mohammedan,    curricu 
lum  of,   177- 
Congo,   159,  204,  230,  233. 
Congo  Free  State,  Moslems  in,   158 


Constantinople,  50,  65.  i47.  i99.  237, 
244,  245;  political  capital  of  Islam, 
228;  population  of,  214;   Sultan  of, 

Converts,  first  from  Islam  to  Chris- 
tianity, 23;  from  Islam,  216;  story 
of,    144-146.        . 
Copts,  201,  217;  in  Egypt,  62. 
Coronation   hymn,   author  of,   49;   of 
Islam  sung  by  derwishes,49;  much 
literature    in    regard   to,    49;    story 
of   writing   of,    50. 
"Cow,"     The,    127. 

Creed,  confession  of,  102,  103;  one 
of  the  chief  factors  in  rapid  spread 
of  Islam,  103:  use  of,  102;  use  a 
strength  to  Islam,  103;  watch- 
word of  Islam,  102. 
Crete  becomes  Moslem,  65. 
Cromer,    Lord,    report    of,    on    Pan- 

Islamism,  237;   quoted,   239. 
Crusades,     187;     Christian    reply    to 

challenge    of    Islam.    185. 
Curtis,  William,  in  "Syria  and  Pales- 
tine,"   157- 
Curzon,   Lord,    quoted,   244- 
Cyprus,    148;   in   the  hands   of   Sara- 
cens,   65- 
Dahir,    73-  ^ 

Damascus,  4.  60,  68,   no;  population 
of,  214;  visited  by  Mohammed,  35. 
Danish  Church,  200. 
Dante,    188. 

Dante's   "Inferno,"    95. 
Dar   ul    Harb,    167. 
Dar  ul   Islam,   167. 
Dayaks,    234. 
Deccan,    73,   76. 

Delhi,  74,  254;  population  of,  214. 
Denmark,   251. 
De   Thiersant,    71. 

Derwish   orders,   58,  62,    146,    147;   in- 
fluence of,  widespread,   147;  power- 
ful   factor    in    present    day    Islam, 
146;    used    by    Sultan,    147. 
Derwishes,     177;     active    to-day,    64; 
thirty-two     orders     of,     147;     ^wo 
classes   of,   147- 
Dhov/s,   128. 
Diarbekr,    162. 
Din,    Dr.   Imad  ud,  99;  quoted,    144- 

146. 
Dirhem,    122. 
Ditch,    battle   of,   37- 
Divorce,   126;   right   of,  7- 
Dixey,    Rev.    A.    D.,   234. 
Dods,   Marcus,   41,   114. 
Doughty,  Chas.  M.,  quoted,  129,  i74- 
Dozv,    15,    "o. 

Dutch  Colonial  Government,  present 
attitude    of,     173.    205,    237- 


East   Indies,  233. 

Education,   at   Mecca,    177.    178;   cap- 
stone of,   178;  in  Persia,  178. 


INDEX 


Educational  institutions,  use  of,  21T. 
Egypt,  3,  56,  57,  61,  63,   no,  115,  161, 
165,   170,  173,  176,   181,   198,  201,  203, 
204,   210,  211,  226.  236,  238,   246;   be- 
comes a  dependency,  62;   Christian 
civilization   in,   62,   63;    lower,    137; 
lower,   Moslem  population  in,  228; 
upper,    138. 
Egyptian,    4,    156,    2ZT. 
El   Burda,   49,  50. 
El   Jahiliya,   2. 
El   Moeyid,   237. 
Elmslie,    198. 

El  VVakidi,  quoted,   58,  59. 
Emperor  Hsuan-Tsung,  70. 
England,    167,    179;    King    of,    169. 
Euphrates,    10. 
Europe,    192,    249. 
Evangelization  of  the  Mohammedan 

world,  22y22(i. 
Ezelis,    148. 
Ezra,   92. 

Ez-Zahir,  extracts  from,  168;  quoted, 
115. 

F 
Ears    converted    to    Islam,    (>■]. 
Famgusta,    148. 

Fasting,    month    of,    107;    those    ex- 
empt   from,    108;    voluntary,    108. 
Fatimah,   94. 

Feast   of   sacrifice,   113,    114. 
Feasts   and   festivals,    113. 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  edict  of,  65. 
Fez,    205,    217;    population   of,    215. 
Fezzan,  65. 
Finns,    58. 
France,   167,  251. 
French,    Bishop,    198,   200,   254. 
French  Minister  of  Interior,  quoted, 

170. 
French    Republic,   239. 
Fresnel,    3. 
Freytag,   6. 
1  G 

Geiger,   Rabbi   Abraham,    16,    17. 
,  Geneva,   237. 
Genii.     See   Jinn. 
Germany,    167,    187,   239,    251. 
Ghadir,    138. 
Ghalia,    141. 

Ghassan,  4;  tribes  of,  pre-Islamic,  18. 
Ghazzali,  quoted,    127. 
,Ghengis    Khan,    70. 
IChiyas   ul   Lughat,   136. 
'Ghulam    Haider,    232. 
Giaour,  64. 

;  Gibbon,  86;  quoted,  66. 
Glaser,    Edward,   21. 
Goa,   186,    194. 
Gobat,    Samuel,    203. 
God,  89;  books  of,  89;  Mohammed's 
idea    of,    deistic,   87;    Moslem    idea 
of,  86;  Moslem  conception  of,  neg- 
ative, 86,  87;  Moslem  search  after, 
144-146;    truce   of,    9. 


Gods  compared  with  genii,  11;  indi- 
viduality   of,    n. 

Gordon,     198. 

Goldziher,  2. 

Grant,   202. 

Great   Britain,   239,   251. 

Greeks,    5,    15,    201. 

Grimme,    6. 

Guebars,    112. 

H 

Hafiz,    144. 

Haidarabad,    population    of,    214. 

Haig,  F.   T.,  200. 

Haines,  quoted,  ^2,  yj. 

Hajj,   no. 

Hajjaj  bin  Jusuf,  75. 

Hamza  joins  Islam,  36. 

Hanbali,    150. 

Hanbalites,   138. 

Hanifism,   23. 

Hanifite,    137. 

Hanifs,  22-24;  belief  of,  2^;  con- 
vinced of  the  folly  of  the  old  re- 
ligion, 23;  teachings  of,  2^;  piety 
of,  24;  prevent  slaying  of  female 
infants,  24. 

Hanotaux,    M.   G.,   quoted,    170. 

Happer,    71. 

Haramain,  origin  of  Moslem  terch- 
ing   about,   11. 

Harem,  14,  114;  did  not  prevail  be- 
fore  Islam,  6. 

Harun,    132. 

Harut,   89. 

Hassan,   140. 

Hastings,    Warren,    168. 

Hatim,  6. 

Hauri,  Johannes,  86,  87,  95. 

Hausa,    163. 

Hausas,    156. 

Heber,  92. 

Hegira,  5,  9,  10,  12,  36,  69,  136;  7th 
year,   37;  8th   year,   38. 

Hejaz,  16;  estimated  Moslem  popu- 
lation of,  231;   tribes  of,   10. 

Hell,  Moslem,  95. 

Heraclius,    Emperor,   5. 

Hildebert,  quoted,  188. 

Himalayas,   163,   247. 

Himyar  accepts   Christianity,   19. 

Himyarite  dynasties   in   Yemen,  3. 

Hindu   Kush,   232. 

Hinduism,    55. 

Hindus,    74,    175. 

Hindustani,  Arabic  words  in,  163. 

Hira,  36;   yields  to  Persia,  4. 

Hirah,    19. 

Hirschfeld,  quoted,  14. 

Hisb    ul   bahar,    145. 

Hodaibiya,  38. 

Holland,    251. 

Hooper,    198. 

Hormuz,  60. 

Howra,   population  of,  215. 

Hud,  92. 

Hughes,    198. 


INDEX 


289 


Hurgronje,  Dr.  C.  Snouck,  no,  128. 
Husain,   140. 

Husain,    Mohammed,    quoted,    115. 
Hypnotism,    146. 

I 

Ibn  al   Kelbi,    12. 

Ibn  Ishak,  5  13,  46;  quoted,  23; 
quoted  on  Ubaidullah  bin  Jahsh; 
witness   of,   23. 

Ibn   Hanbal,    137. 

Ibn    Hisham,    13,    46,    50. 

Ibn    Khaldun,   63. 

Ibn   Khalikan,  quoted,  20. 

Ibn   Malik,    137. 

Ibrahim,   21 ;    death  of,   38. 

Iddah,   230. 

Idols   of   Arabia,    list  of,    12. 

Idris,    Q2. 

'Id   ul  Azha,    113. 

'Idu   ul   Fitr,    113. 

Illiteracy  of  Islam,    176-179. 

'Ilm   ul   Feroo'a,   99. 

Ilm  ul  Usool,  99. 

Imam,   139;   doctrine  of,   139. 

Imamate,    139,    147. 

Imams,   139,   140. 

I  man,    85,    99. 

Immorality  of  Moslem  priesthood, 
174- 

Imru  al   Kais,  8. 

India,  19,  57,  no,  115,  141,  161,  170, 
173.  174,  179,  198,  211,  226,  227,  235, 
237y  243,  254;  central,  western  and 
southern,  76;  condition  of  country 
favorable  to  Saracen  invaders,  73; 
Moslems  in,  161,  171;  northern, 
73,  137;  southern,  55,  137,  233; 
stronghold    of    Moslems,    72. 

Indies,  Dutch  Elast,  Moslems  in,  161. 

Indus,   73. 

Infanticide    (female),   custom  of,    5. 

Injil,  89. 

Irak,  75. 

Isa,  143. 

Ishmael,    17,   92,   114. 

Islam,  5,  52,  55,  56,  59,  69,  140,  142, 
158,  186,  195,  210,  224,  231;  accepted 
by  various  Arabian  tribes,  38 
alarmed,  235;  as  a  religion  doomed 
225;  challenge  to  the  faith,  i,  243 
255;  church's  attitude  toward,  187 
code  of,  2;  a  composite  religion 
not  an  invention,  24;  conquest  of 
time  for,  255;  coronation  hymn  of 
49;  crosses  the  Sahara,  63;  divi 
sion,  anticipated  by  Mohammed, 
136;  division,  disintegration  and 
reform,  135-152  •  early  missionaries 
of,  60;  elements  of,  86;  enters 
Europe  early,  65;  enters  Central 
Asia,  68;  enters  Java,  76;  enters 
Spain,  65;  entrance  of,  into  Per- 
sia, 67;  ethics  of,  1 19-132;  expla- 
nation of  spread  of,  29;  fair  trial 
of,     129;    faith    of,    85-96;     day    of 


judgment,  94;  doctrine  of  the 
angels,  87-89;  predestination,  95; 
genesis  of,  i;  geographical  de- 
scription of,  157;  a  great  commis- 
sion of  the  apostle  of,  58;  history 
of  the  spread  of  not  without  sig- 
nificance, 78;  illiteracy  of,  176-179; 
in  Africa,  158;  in  Asia,  160;  in 
Europe,  160;  indications  of  the  dis- 
integration of,  148;  intellectual 
awakening  of,  179-11*2;  interest  of, 
1;  introduced  in  Southern  India, 
75;  Jesuits  of,  64;  Judaism  plus 
Mohammed,  17;  languages  of,  156, 
162;  literary  languages  of,  165; 
meaning  ot,  99;  a  missionary  re- 
ligion, 55-58;  modern  missionary 
efforts  of,  58;  most  brilliant  ad- 
vance ot,  75;  new,  179,  246;  failure 
of,  180;  not  an  invention,  86;  not 
introduced  by  Koran  alone,  loi; 
origin  and  sources  of,  1-25;  other 
sects  of,  141;  pantheism  of  force, 
87;  peril  of,  not  a  cause  for  dis- 
couragement, 243;  philosophy  of, 
95;  plans  world  empire,  167;  po- 
litical divisions  of,  165-167;  popu- 
lation of,  156,  157;  power  of  ex- 
ample, 78;  present  extent  of,  155; 
present  growth  in  China,  70,  71 ; 
present  political  unrest  in,  167; 
regarded  a  negligible  factor  in 
China,  71 ;  religion  for  Arabia, 
129;  revival  of,  62;  ritual  of,  re- 
ligion of  good  works,  99;  rule  of, 
3;  result  of  rule,  130;  second  at- 
tempt to  conquer  Europe,  66;  six 
articles  of,  86;  social  bankruptcy 
of,  129;  societies  for  the  defence 
of  235;  sources  of,  86. 
Spread  of,  55-81 :  by  influence  of  kings 
and  princes,  69;  "Battle  of  the 
Chains,"  61;  Bni  Temim,  expedition 
against,  60 ;  Damascus  taken,  60  ;  due 
to  the  power  of  the  sword  and  low 
moral  standards,  78;  fall  of  Jerusa- 
lem, 60 ;  in  Arabia  and  Syria,  58 ;  in 
China,  69;  in  Europe,  65;  in  India, 
72;  in  Malay  Archipelago,  76;  in 
Persia  and  Central  Asia,  67-69;  in 
west  Africa,  233,  234;  most  re- 
markable fact,  political  sway  not 
synonymous  with  conversion,  61 ; 
not  past  history,  77;  Yemen  sub- 
jectea,6o. 

Success  in  India,  75;  stronghold 
of,  157;  system  of,  171;  three 
periods  of  conquest  of,  5^58; 
various  elements  of,  recognizable 
to  this  day,  25;  world  conquest 
of,  begun  with  sword;  58;  a 
world-wide  religion,  155,  156; 
yielding  ground,  248;  final  word  to 
Europe,  224,  225. 

Ispahan,    199. 

Israfil,   88. 


290 


INDEX 


Iswad,   39. 
Italy,  163. 

J 

Jabariyah,   141. 

Jahangir,  75,   194. 

Takut's  "Geographical  Lexicon,"  12. 

Jansen,  Hubert,  "Verbreitung  des 
Islams,"  157. 

Japan,    170,    1S6,  247. 

Jarabub,   64. 

Jauf,  4. 

Java,  48,  57,  79,  147,  155,  161,  162,  164, 
170,  172,  205,  218,  226;  converts  in, 
206;  population  of,  206;  present 
situation   in,    77. 

Jebel,  Tarik,  56. 

Jehan,  Shah,    75,    76. 

Jehennom,    95. 

Jemaa    Sahrij,    217. 

Jerusalem,  60,  189,  215;  distance  from 
Mecca,    1. 

Jessup,  Dr.  H.  H.,  248. 

Jesuits,  78;   Society  of,   194. 

Jesus  Christ,  42,  51.  87,  91,  92,  139, 
141,  143,  191,  192,  193,  210,  212,  217, 
218,  227,  243;  Gospel  of,  230;  love 
of,  243;  Moslem  belief  concerning, 
93;  not  crucified,  93;  public  con- 
fession to  be  encouraged,  213;  re- 
ligion of,  20,  131,  132,  232. 
Jethro,  92. 
ews,  9,  149,  188,  201 ;  expedition 
against,  37;  in  Arabia,  15-17;  nu- 
merous and  povk^erful  in  time  of 
Mohammed,  15;  obstacle  to  early 
spread  of  Christianity,  19;  settled 
in  Arabia,  10;  settled  in  Mecca  at 
time  of  David,  15;  societies  for  the 
conversion   of,    186. 

Jiddah,    iii,    129. 

Jihad,  151,  167;  a  new,  150;  war 
against  infidels,   114-116. 

Jinn  (genii),  88,  178;  belief  in  uni- 
versal, II. 

John    Damascenus,     188. 

John  of   Damascus,   191. 

Johnstone,  quoted  on  source  of  evi- 
dence against   Mohammed,  45. 

Jones,    187. 

Jordan,   quoted,  246. 

"Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society,"  71. 

Judaism,  41,  55,  86;  embraced  by 
Arabs,    15. 

K 

Kaab  bin  Zuhair,  life  of,  50;  poem 
of,    50. 

Kaaba,  9,  13,  16,  32,  36,  86,  no,  138, 
172,  228;  Arabian  Pantheon,  10, 
24;   its  Black  Stone,    in;  meaning 

of,     III. 

Kabyles,  156,  217. 
Kadariyahs,   64,    141. 
Kaf,   88. 
Kafiristan,    231. 
Kafirs,   232. 


Karachi,    population    of,    215. 
JS.asim,   73. 
Keane,   A.    H.,    71. 
Keith-Falconer,    Ion,    199,    200,    209, 

254- 

Kelat    State,    174. 

Keller,  quoted,  187,  189. 

Kerbala,    113. 

Kerman  converted  to   Islam,  67. 

Kermanshah,    199. 

Khadijah,  6,  44;  favorably  disposed 
to  Hanifism,  34;  key  to  the  first 
period  of  Mohammed's  life,  41. 

Khaibar,    4,    15. 

Khalid,  38,  60,  62,  67,  239;  letter  to 
Hormuz,  60;  orders  whole  tribe 
slain,  38;  rebuked,  38. 

Khansu,    155. 

Khartoum,    172,    239. 

Khawariji,    141. 

Khedive,   64. 

Khiva,  69,  160;  estimated  Moslem 
population  of,  231. 

Khizar,    143. 

Khorasan   converted  to   Islam,   67. 

Khosroes,  57;  of  Persia,  become 
Christians    380    A.  D.,    19. 

Kinanah,    tribes    of,    13. 

King  of  Ternate,   76. 

Kirman,    199. 

Kiswa,    sacred,    172. 

Kitab   el   Asnam,    12. 

Klein,    198. 

Koelle,  quoted,  22,  41,  123,  136;  on 
character  of    Khadijah,   33. 

Koran,  The,  15,  19,  23,  35,  36,  40,  46, 
50,  51,  52,  79,  80,  85,  86,  88-91,  100, 
122,  137,  150,  177,  178,  196,  210,  212, 
232,  248;  Arabic,  sealed  book  to 
most  Moslems,  210;  chapter  of 
"The  Elephant,"  20;  defects  of,  91; 
first  translated  into  Latin,  189;  in- 
ferior to  sacred  books  of  other  na- 
tions, 91;  in  two  languages,  164; 
Moslem  translations  of,  164;  not  a 
religious  system  in,  135;  praised, 
52;  quoted,  13,  90;  titles  of,  89; 
translation  of,  not  permitted  in 
China,  165;  uncreated,  eternal,  89; 
unintelligible,    90. 

Kordo,   63. 

Koreish,  16,  36;  advance  on  Medina, 
27;  defeat  the  Moslems  at  Ohod, 
37;   tribes   of,    13. 

Koreishites,    5. 

Krishna,    187. 

Kubattein,    112. 

Kuenen,    111. 

Kufa,    18. 

Kumm,    230. 

Kurds,   176. 

Kuteiba,  68. 

Kwangtung,  72. 

Labid,  8. 

Laborers,  need  of,  215,  226. 


INDEX 


291 


Lagos,  158. 

Lahore,     79,     115,     194;     Bishop    of, 

quoted,   253;   population  of,   214. 
Lake    Chad,    63. 

Laymen's  movement  in  Islam,  80. 
Leo  the   Fourth,  65. 
Levant,    167. 
Libyan  oases,   65. 
Literature,   Mohammedan,  in  Persia, 

67;    pre-Islamic,    8,    9. 
Livingstone,    163. 
Locusts,    parable   of,   240. 
Loewenthal,    Isidor,    254. 
Lokman,    91,   92. 
London,    181,   2^,   244. 
Loomis,  221- 
Loyola,    152. 

Lucknow,  population  of,  214. 
Lull,   Raymund.   123,   191-194,   195,  209, 

244,  254;   compared  with  Paul,  191; 

first   missionary   to    Moslems,    191; 

quoted,  185,  186. 
Lyall,  quoted,  73. 
Lyman,   204. 

M 

Maan,  4. 

^Macedonians,   4. 

Madras,   population  of,   214. 

JMahdi,  €2,    139,  239. 

Mahdis   of   Soudan,   115. 

Mahdist  movement,  64. 

Mahmud,   74. 

]\Iajorca,  Island  of,  191. 

Makran  converted  to  Islam,  (>j. 

Malabar,   228. 

Malay  Archipelago,  58,   no,  138,  237. 

Malumat,   2Z'j. 

Mansur,   189. 

Mapillas,   increase   of,   233. 

Mardin,   162." 

Mareb,   21. 

Margoliouth,  Prof.  D.  S.,  quoted  on 
the  demoralizing-  effects  of  Mo- 
hammed's  teachings,   43. 

Maronites,  201. 

Marriage,  kind  of  slavery,  127;  de- 
grading, 127;  temporary,  7,  127, 
140;  two  kinds  in  vogue,  7. 

Martensen,  defines  Christian  ethics, 
119. 

Martyn.  Henry,  185,  190,  195-198, 
209,  216,  244,  254,  255. 

Martyr,  Lull,  193;  pre-Islamic  Chris- 
tian,   20. 

Marut,   89. 

Marwa,    17,    no. 

Masnavi,    144. 

Mr.via  converted  to  Christianity,  18. 

Maximus   Tyrius,    quoted,    112. 

Mecca,  3,  4,  5,  9,  14,  22,  29,  32,  34, 
38,  43.  lly  78,  79.  1 10,  III,  128,  138, 
150,  172.  173,  177,  178,  244;  centre 
of  Pagan  Arabia,  10;  centre  of 
pilgrimage,  one-seventh  of  human 
race,  155;  distance  from  Jerusalem, 


i;  hot-bed  of  immorality,  113;  im- 
portance of,  4;  Moslem  pilgrimage 
to,  pre-Islamic  practice,  11;  on 
the  streets  of,  156;  pilgrim  popu- 
lation of,  156;  pilgrimage  to,  109- 
III ;  railway,  244;  religious  capital 
of  Islam,  228;  Mohammed  renews 
hostilities  at,  38;  true  to  Islam,  59. 

Meccan   pilgrims,  58. 

Meccans,  hostility  of,  towards  Mo- 
hammed, 36. 

Medina,  4,  9,  14,  15,  18,  22,  29,  36, 
94,    150,    173;    true   to    Islam,    59. 

Meinhof,   Prof.   Carl,  235. 

Merrick,    Rev.   J.    L.,    199. 

Meshad   AH,    113. 

Mesopotamia,  18,  141,  160;  con- 
quered, 4. 

Methodist    Episcopal    Church,   200. 

Milan,    191. 

Miller,  Dr.  W.  R.,  quoted,  158. 

Mills,   Samuel  J.,  222,. 

Mina,    17,    no. 

Mindanao  (Philippines),  estimated 
Moslem   population   of,  231. 

Mirza  AH  Mohammed,   148. 

Mirza    Ibrahim,    199. 

Mirza    Yahya,    148. 

Missionaries,  call  of,  must  not  fall 
on  deaf  ears,  253;  Catholic,  186;  in 
Persia  and  Arabia,  198-200;  in  Sou- 
dan,   230. 

Missionary,  first,  to  the  Mohamme- 
dans,   185;    revival,    186. 

Missions,  Christian,  hindered  by  the 
British,  172;  Encyclopedia  of, 
quoted,  157,  201;  in  India,  195;  in 
^Malaysia,  204-206;  in  North  Africa, 
203,  204;  in  Turkish  Empire,  200- 
203;  medical,  opportunities  for, 
246;  methods  and  results  of.  209- 
219;  pica  for.  131;  United  Soudan, 
230;  what  they  imply  compared 
with    Moslem    attitude,    79. 

Miswak,   105. 

^[izan  ul   Hak,  198. 

Mogul    Emoire,    75. 

;Moguls  of  India,  rise  of,  57. 

Mohammed,  i,  2.  3,  5,  6,  7,  9,  48,  52, 
86,  87,  89,  Q2,  99,  104,  107,  210,  218, 
27,7,  248;  absolves  Moslems  from 
league  with  idolaters,  38;  apotheo- 
sis of,  46-^10;  aristocratic  standing 
of,  zz;  begins  to  preach,  36;  birth 
of,  29;  exact  date  unknown.  34: 
builds  great  mosque.  36;  character 
of,  40-46;  confused  in  functions  of 
prophet  with  politician  and 
preacher,  61 ;  confusion  in  regard 
to  the  decalogue,  125;  complete 
maniac  at  times,  42;  composes 
early  chapters  of  Koran,  36;  dies 
in  Aisha's  lap,  39;  driven  out  of 
Taif,  36;  enters  Mecca,  destroys 
idols  in  the  Kaaba.  38;  epileptic 
fits  of,  41;  factors  in  life  of,  32-34; 


292 


INDEX 


first  Arab  to  make  war  in   sacred 
month,  9;  first  contact  with  Chris- 
tians,   according    to    tradition    met 
the    monk,    Buhaira,   35;    first   con- 
vert   of,    his    wife,    34;    first    con- 
verts   36;    first    period    of    his    life, 
34-36;    first    pitched    battle    of,    36; 
at  first  sincere,  41;  flees  to  Medina, 
36;   final  pilgrimage  of,  39;   formed 
alliance    with    Jews,     15;    at    forty- 
turns    to    contemplation,    36;    four 
factors  prominent  in  life  of,  32,  33; 
had   dealings   with    Bishops   of  the 
Church,   22;   ignorant   of  man's  fall 
and  nature  of  sin,  22;  indebtedness 
to     Christianity,    22;     indebted     to 
Judaism,  16;  influence  of,  his  wife, 
Khadijah,  33;  importance  of  name 
of,  47;   Jewess  attempts  to   poison, 
38;     last     marriage,     38;     legalized 
temporary    marriages,    37;    life    af- 
fairs of,  44;  man  of  genius,  25,  30; 
man  of  great  talents,  32;   marches 
against    Khaibar,    37;    married    at 
twenty-five,  34;  married  to  Zainab, 
37;    marries    fifth   and   sixth   wives, 
37;   marries   Khadijah,  35;  Moslem 
portrait   of,   by    Kamal    ud   Din  ad 
Damiri,  30-32;  name  of,  30;  not  an 
atoner,     120;    not    wholly    ignorant 
of    Christian    faith,    20,    21;    nursed 
by  Halimah,  34;   of  history,  92;   of 
later   tradition    sinless   and    divine, 
45,    46;    of    tradition    above    Jesus 
in   honor,  92;   personal   appearance 
of,    39;    poetical    reference    to    his 
up-bringing,  35;  the  prophet,  29-52; 
quoted,    13,    58,    155;    on    sin,    121; 
received    call    to    be   a    prophet    in 
cave   of   Hira,   36;   received   revela- 
tions  at   forty,   34;    resolves   to   at- 
tack  Mecca,   38;   rival   prophets  of, 
39;    second    period    in    life    of,    36; 
seriously    wounded,     37;     sincerity 
of,  a  disputed  question,  42;  sources 
of      information      concerning,      40; 
spirit    of    Jesus    absent    from    the 
mind    of,    42;    stains    on    the    char- 
acter  of,   43;   taken   at    six   to   Me- 
dina,  34;   taken  under   care   of   his 
uncle,  Abu  Talib.  34;  takes  impor- 
tant  part    in   renewing   old   federa- 
tion   at    Mecca,    35;    at    thirty-five 
settles    dispute    in   regard   to    loca- 
tion of   Black  Stone  in  reconstruc- 
tion of  Kaaba,  36;   titles   of  honor 
of,  46;  at  twenty-five,   in  service  of 
Khadijah,    35;    turned    back    from 
Mecca,     38;     under     care     of     his 
grandfather,    34;    violates    his    own 
laws,     44;     visits     Busra,     Aleppo, 
Damascus,   35;   wars   against   Asad 
and  Jews  of  Bni  Nazir,  37;  wives 
of,    44;     writes    letters    to    foreign 
kings  and  princes,  37;   youth  une- 
ventful, 35. 


Mohammed  bin  Abd  ul  Wahab,  149- 
^  151- 

Mohammedan     literature,     missiona- 
ries ignorant  of,   254. 
Mohammedan  loss  of  political  power, 

167. 
Mohammedan     methods     in      China, 

71-72. 
Mohammedan  population,  156,  157. 
Mohammedan      religious      literature 

influenced  by  Christianity,  51. 
Jklohammedanism,      115;      stronghold 

of,   157- 
Mohammedans,  175;  under  American 

flag,  232. 
Moharram  ceremonies,   140. 
Moluccas,    76. 

Monk,   Christian,   in  pre-Islamic  po- 
etry,  18. 
Monotheism    of    Mohammed,    a    de- 
parture, 87;  displaces  polytheism,  19. 
Moors,    156. 
Morocco,    I,   48,   56,   62,  88,    163,    165, 

166,   174,  204,  211. 
Moseilama,   60. 

Moslem,  149;  aggression,  234;  cities 
occupied  by  Protestant  missions, 
214. 
Moslem  conquest,  extent  of,  55,  56; 
high-water  mark  of  in  Europe,  66; 
reaction  against  crusades,  62;  rea- 
son for  the  limit  of,  66. 
Moslem   ethics,    basis    of,    119;    five 

duties  of,  99. 
Moslems  gained  foothold  in  Southern 
Italy,  66;  how  to  reach,  209;  imitat- 
ing   missionary    methods,    245;    in- 
creasing in  numbers,  233;   in   Ben- 
gal  75;    in   Behar,    75;    in    Western 
China,     70;     massacre     in     China, 
70;     missions     among,     1S6;     neg- 
lected,   185-187,  201;  number  of,   in 
Africa,   66;   in   Asia,   66;    in   China, 
71;    in    India,    75;    resolutions    of, 
171;    peril,  233-237;    reach   Atlantic, 
62;    small    number    of,    in    Europe, 
66;   under   Christian  rule,    166,  244; 
world,    present    condition    of,    155- 
182;  writers,  2. 
Muallakat,   8. 
!Muezzin,    106,    163. 
Mufti,    180. 

Muir,     Sir     William,     41,     123,     136; 
quoted,  4,  16,  59,  124;  on  the  death 
of   Mohammed,   39. 
Mujtahids,   140. 
Mukawkas,    62. 
Multan,   73. 
Munkar,    88. 
Munson,    204. 
Musailimah,    39. 
Muscat,    196,  200,   215. 
Mustapha  Pasha  Kamil,  quoted,  181. 
Muta'a,    140. 

Mysticism,    Aryan,    142;    Mohamme- 
dan,  142. 


INDEX 


293 


N 
Nabathean  Kingdom,  4. 
Nachla,  9. 
Najiyah,    136. 
Nakir,   8S. 

Nehavend,  battle  of,  67. 
>>'ejd,    150,    173. 
Nejran,    7,    11,    18,   20. 
Nestorians,    199,   201,  202. 
Nestorius,  41. 
Netherlands,   167. 
New  Ciuinea,   162. 
Newton,    132. 
New   Zealand,  251. 
Niger,    159,  204,  230;  region,  63. 
Nigeria,   233. 
Nile,    128,    158,    181,   203;    tribes,    236; 

upper,    230. 
Noble,   86. 
Noldeke,  6. 
Noman  Abu  Kamus  melts  statue  of 

Venus,  19. 
Norway,  251. 
Nupe,  231;  country,  158. 


Occupied  and  unoccupied  lands,  226. 

Ohod,    37. 

Okatz,   8,    176. 

Oman,  60. 

Oman  Arabs,   58;   traders,   63. 

Omar,  38,  94,   138;  joins  Islam,  36. 

Omar  Khayyam,  96. 

Ormuz,    3. 

Osama,   39,  59. 

Osborn,   86,   95. 

Othman,   5,    138;    pilgrim   to    Mecca, 

Ottoman  Turks,   66;   rise  of,   57. 
Ottomans,  57. 


Paganism   in  Arabia,  2;  reasons  for 

the   decline   of,    14. 
Palgrave,    86,    174;    quoted,    87,    130; 

on   pre-Islam,   8. 
Palestine,   16,  162,  200;  conquests  of, 

15- 
Palma,    Cornelius,  4,   191. 
Pan-Islamism,  237-240,  246;  to  be  met 

with    Pan-Evangelism,    240. 
Pantheism.    141. 

Paradise,   Moslem,  94;  river  of,   30. 
Paris,  237,  244. 
Patna,  population  of,  215. 
Pearse,    George,   204. 
Peking,   Moslems  in,   161. 
Pelly,    Sir   Lewis,    quoted,    135. 
Perceval,  Caussin  de,  18;  quoted  on 

date  of  birth,  34. 
Perkins,    202. 
Perron,  3. 
Persia,  i,  55,  57,  69,  88,   135,  U7,  156, 

160,   165,  167,   178,  196,   198,   199,  201, 

210,  211,  217,  227,  233,  246,  247;  con- 


quest of,  greater  significance  for 
future  of  Islam,  67;  education  a 
fad  in,  247;  fate  of.  decided,  67; 
home  of  Mohammedan  rationalism 
and  mysticism,  142;  source  of 
weakness  to  Islam,  67;  southern, 
estimated  Moslem  population  of, 
231;    western,    62. 

Persians,  4,  5,  15,  "2,  140,  142,  156. 
164,    195;    defeated   at    Kadesia,   60. 

Peshawar,  215. 

Peters,   Carl,   quoted,  239. 

Pfander,  Karl  Gottlieb,  198,  209. 

Philippines,  58,  161;  Moslems  in,  162. 

Philosophv,  Greek,  137;  Indian,  142; 
new,  opposed  by  Sunnis,   137. 

Pilgrims,    no;   prayer,  4,    no. 

Pilgrimage,  ceremonies  of,  no;  to 
Mecca  prevented,  38;  to  the  tombs 
of  saints,   113. 

Plato,  137. 

Polo,    Marco,    68,    70,    187. 

Polygamy,  126;  practised,  7;  results 
of,  175;  tremendous  power  in 
spread  of  Islam,   126. 

Polyandry    practised,    7. 

Polytheism.  Arabian,  10-15;  belief  in, 
pre-Islamic,    13. 

Poona,   population   of,   215. 

Portugal,    78,    194- 

Post,    George    E.,   240. 

Prayer,  call  to,  106;  direction  of, 
104;  effect  nullified,  106;  first  re- 
quirement of  correct,  104;  five 
proper  times  for.  106;  importance 
of  posture  in.  106;  Moslem,  vain 
repetition,  103;  persistent  and  sin- 
cere,   104;   the  words  of,    106. 

Preaching,  2n ;  subject  of,  212;  use 
and  methods  of,  2n. 

Presbyterian   Church,   200. 

Prophets,   8,   91- 

Punjab,  210,  216;  Moslems  in,  75,  161. 

Pushtu,    164. 

Q 

8ueen's    College,    Cambridge,    194. 
_uetta,  215,  246. 


Rabi'-al-Awal,  32. 

Kajputs,  73. 

Ramazan.  99,   107,   108,   113- 

Rangoon,  population  of,  214. 

Ras   Benas,   128. 

Red  Sea,  15,  128,  233. 

Reformation  compared  with  Wahabi, 

Reformed  Presbvterian  Church,  200. 
Religion,     55,     n6;     of    Mohammed, 
inadequacy   of,    173;    pillars   of,   99. 
Renan,    163. 

Rhenish    Missionary   Society,  205. 
Rhodes  in  the  hands  of  Saracens,  65. 
Richmond-on-the-Thames,    199. 
Rio    de    Oro,    163. 


294 


INDEX 


R9binson,  quoted  on  Mohammedan- 
ism, 130. 

Rome,  4;  sacked  by  Arabs,   65. 

Rouse,  243. 

Russia,  58,  6g,  155,  162,  167,  199,  232; 
Asiatic,  69;  in  Caucasus,  estimated 
Moslem  population  of,  231;  in, 
Central  Asia,  estimated  Moslem 
population   of,    162,    231. 


Saab,   112. 

Sa'adi,  poems  of,   144. 

Saa-Saa,    6. 

Sabeans,  19;  star-worshippers,  10. 

Sacrifices,  pre-Islamic,   without  fire, 

Safa,  17,  no. 
Safiyah,  Z7,  43- 
Sahara,   62,    163,   228. 
Saiyad   Amir  Ali,    114. 
Sale,  3. 
Salih,    92. 
Samarkand,   68. 
Sanaa,  4,    15,  20. 

Saracen,  attack  Bokhara,  68;  hatred 
of,    for    Christians,    187,    188;    inva- 
sion of   Persia,  67. 
Sayyad   Sulayman,   71,   72. 
Schreiber,  Dr.,  quoted  on  Malaysia, 

205. 
Sejestan  converted  to  Islam,  67. 
Sell,     Canon,    quoted    on    Imamate, 

139- 
Semites,   173. 
Senegambia,   65. 

Senusi     Brotherhood,     driven     from 
^lecca,   64;   latest  missionary  force 
of  Moslems,   64,   65;    origin   of,   64; 
profess    to    aspire    to    no    political 
aim,  65. 
Seyid  Amir  Ali,   40. 
Shafite,    138. 
Shah  of  Persia,  147,  247;  son-in-law, 

quoted,    247. 
Shaiki   sect,    147. 
Shathalis,   248. 
Shebin    el    Kom,   217,    218. 
Sheherzade,    88. 

Shedd,    Dr.    William  A.,    quoted   on 
spread     of     Islam     in    Africa,    61: 
quoted,    181. 
Sheikh  Abdullah  Arif,   76. 
Sheikh   Othman,  246. 
Shensi,    155. 

Shiah,    7,     127,     147;     Moslems,     113, 
1.38- 140,    148;    claims    of,    138;    diflFer 
from    Sunnis,    138,    139;    thirty-two 
sub-divisions   of,    138. 
Shuaib,  92. 

Siberia,  155;  estimated  Moslem  pop- 
ulation of,  231. 
Sicily,   65. 

Sierra    Leone,    155,    158. 
Simon    Stylites,    18. 
Sin,   Moslem  idea  of,   121. 


Sind,   73. 
Sinbads,  69. 
Singapore,   103,   155. 
Slave   trade,    126,    127,    175. 
Slavs,    173. 

Smith,    Bosworth,    quoted    on    char- 
acter of  Mohammed,  40,  131. 
Smith,    Dr.    Eli,   203. 
Smith,  Dr.  George,  quoted  on  Lull, 

193;    quoted,     195. 
Smith,  Robertson,  quoted,  7. 
Smyrna,  population  of,  214. 
Sobat   River,   230. 
Social   conditions   of   Moslem  lands, 

results    of,    173-176. 
Soerabaya  (Java),  population  of,  215. 
Sokoto,  231;    extent  of,  63;    Moslem 

empire  at,  63. 
Somali-land,  115. 
Somalis,   156. 

Soudan,  62,  65,  80,    103,  155,   157,  163, 
240;    central,    229;    district    of,    230; 
Egyptian,     64;     French,     158,     170; 
population  of,  230;  western,  79. 
Soudanese,    156. 

Spain,   55,   56,   62,    163,   165,   192. 
Speer,   Robert  E.,   127. 
Speke,   163. 
Spice  Islands,  76. 

Sprenger,   Aloys,  41,   123;  quoted,  4, 
137;    quoted   on   date  of  birth,   34; 
quoted    on    epileptic    fits    of    Mo- 
hammed, 41. 
Stock,    Eugene,    191. 
Stone,   George  E.,  200. 
Suez,    128. 

Sufi    teaching,    hopelessness   of,    144. 
Sufis,   142,    143,  248. 
Sufiism,     142-146;    leading    doctrines 
of,   142-145;   poetry   essence   of,    144. 
Sultan,   238;    of   Ghazni,   74. 
Sumatra,    76,    77,    161,    162,     170,    171, 
172,  205,  226,  232;  Rhenish  mission 
in,  218. 
Sunnat-en-nebi,    100. 
Sunni,   136-138,   148. 
Surat  Chandra  Das,  C.  I.  E.,  71. 
Swaheli  tribes,  63,  236. 
Sweden,   251. 
Switzerland,   251. 

Syria,  4,  56,  57,  58,   62,   no,   135,   141, 
i6i,  162,  165,   173,  200,  201,  226. 


Tabriz,   population   of,   2x5. 

Tahzib  ul  Akhlak,  179. 

Taif,   4,   9,   22,   36;  clans  of,   3. 

Taliclava,   69. 

Talismans,   178. 

Tangier,  204,   217. 

Tanta,  246. 

Tarik,   zeal   of,   56. 

Tartars  of  Azoph,  66. 

Taylor,  Canon,   131. 

Teheran,   247;   population  of,  214. 

Theophilus,    19. 


INDEX 


^95 


Thorns,  Dr.   Marion  Wells,  200. 

Thrace  conquered,  66. 

Throne,  verse  of  the,  90. 

Tigris,   4. 

Tijani,  64. 

Timbuktu,    228. 

Timur,    68,    74. 

Tisdall,  Dr.  St.  Clair,   17,  125,  213. 

Tobolsk,    155. 

Tocat,    197. 

Togoudar  Ogoul  renounced  Chris- 
tianity,   68,    69. 

Toleiha,  60. 

Torah,   48,   89. 

Tours,  battle  of,  65. 

"Traditions,"  86;  basis  of  the 
authority  in  Islam,  101;  genuine- 
ness of,  loi ;  meaning  of,  100-102. 

Transmigration    of    souls,    141. 

Transoxiana,   69. 

Transvaal,    169. 

Treatise  on  Jihad,   115. 

Trinity,  doctrine  of,  present  in  Ara- 
bia, 21. 

Tripoli,  56,  65,  i6s,  174,  176,  203,  204- 

Trotter,   Miss  I.   Lilias,  quoted,  209. 

Tulaiha,   39. 

Tulata   ibn   Musarif,    100. 

Tunganis,   68. 

Tunis,  56,  147,  165,  192,  203,  204,  217, 
244;   population  of,  215. 

Turfan,  68. 

Turkestan,    57,    68,    69,    160,    165. 

Turkey,  130,  156,  161,  162,  176,  201, 
226,  227. 

Turks,  66,   74,   150,    151,    171,   185,  223. 

U 
Ubaidullah  bin  Jahsh  becomes  Mos- 
lem, later  Christian,  23. 
Uganda,    233;    Islam    weakening    in, 

236;   notes,   236;   Mission,   236. 
United   Free   Church,  200. 
United  States,  237. 
University,     Azhar,     180;     Calcutta, 

156;    Mohammedan,    179;    tone   of, 

agnostic,  180. 
Urdu,  164,  216. 
Uzza,    14. 

V 
Vambery,   Prof.  A.,  68,  156;  quoted, 

131- 
Van   Dyke,    Dr.    Cornelius,   203. 
Veil,      use      of,      unknown      before 

Islaofi,   6. 
Venerabilis,      Petrus,      188-191,     209; 

quoted,  40. 
Vienna,   siege  of,  66. 
Volga,    58. 

W 
Wade,  198. 

Wady   er  Rumma,  4. 
Wahab    bin    Kabsha    sent    to    China 

by  Mohammed,   69;   tomb  of,   69. 
Wahabi,  63,  64;  revival,  57. 


Wahabis,  115,  149-152;  points  of  dif- 
ference from  orthodox  Moslems, 
150.    151- 

Wakidi,  46. 

Wakt-el-Jahiliya,  2. 

Waldenses,   188. 

W'allachia  conquered,  66. 

Walshe,    Rev.    W.    Gilbert,    71. 

Waraka,  23. 

W'araka    Din    Naufal,   23. 

Warneck,   Dr.  Gustav,   187. 

Watson,  Dr.  Anna,  246. 

Watson,  Rev.  Charles  R.,  quoted, 
158. 

Weil,  41. 

Weitbrecht,  Dr.,  226. 

VVellhausen,  8,  9;  quoted,  14;  quoted 
on  dissolution  of  polytheism,   13. 

Wherry,  Dr.,  73,  254;  quoted,  75,  216. 

Wiersum,    Harry   J.,   200. 

Wilken,   Prof.   G.   A.,  5,  6. 

Wilson,    Dr.    John,    199. 

Wingate,    Col.    G.,    232. 

Witches,    178. 

Wives,  list  of  Mohammed's,  44. 

Wolff,  Dr.  Joseph,  199. 

Women,  condition  of,  251-253;  had 
rights  and  were  respected  before 
Islam,  6;  not  married  against  con- 
sent, 6;  position  of,  in  Pagan  Ara- 
bia, 5-8;  state  of,  prior  to  Mo- 
hammed, 3. 

Wright,   essay  of,   17;  quoted,   19. 

Wiirz,   Pastor   F.,   227,  234. 

Wuttke,  Adolph,  quoted  on  Moslem 
ethics,   119. 

X 

Xavier,    Francis,    194. 


Ya  Mansur  Umit,  58. 
"Ya  Mohammed,"  47. 
Yemen,   3,   5,  7,   9,    15,    19,   21,  32,   60, 

200. 
Yezd,   199,  215. 
Yoruba,   158. 
Yunnan,  71,  156,  161;  Moslems  in,  70. 


Zabur,  89. 

Zacharias,    92. 

Zakat,  99;  meaning  of,  108. 

Zanzibar,  63,   126,   155,   159. 

Zarafa,   8. 

Zeid,  23;  convert  of  Mohammed,  34. 

Zemzem,   16,  no;   well   of,   112. 

Zenana,    114. 

Zenobia,   6. 

Zikr,    143. 

Zimmis,    167. 

Zoroastrians,    10,   55,  67. 

Zubair,    8. 

Zu'1-Kifl,  92. 

Zu'1-Karnain,  92. 

Zwtmer,  I'cter  J.,  200,  254. 


BP161.Z973C.2 

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